Scrutiny and Speculation: The Media Series
by Azure K Mello
Summary: Clark tells Lex the truth after Rachel Dunleavy. The series spans thirty-three years and follows the path life could have taken had Clark been brave and Lex been patient. CLex.
1. Bugs and Gold

Title: Bugs and Gold

Author: Azure K. Mello

Words: 17,599

NOTE/PLOT: This is the first of seven stories. They are interconnected to one another. They span 33 years, from Smallville onwards. Clark tells Lex the truth and EVERTHING changes. With the scope we see Bruce Wayne and the Justice League. It all comes together in different ways so after Linage nothing is canon.

Summery: After Rachel Dunleavy, some secrets just can't be kept.

Disclaimer: All things DC belong to various parties, individuals mentioned belong to themselves, other television shows and bands belong to various companies and people. No copy right infringement is intended, please don't sue.

* * *

On Friday night Lex Luthor and Clark Kent made love. On Sunday Lex left Clark in Metropolis and drove back to Smallville in under forty minutes. On Monday they took a nap in the fortress of solitude and Lex considered changing his California king for a ratty couch.

But, the emails started arriving around ten in the morning on Thursday. "Lex, what are you doing? Bored in free period. Do you know what's happening with Rachel Dunleavy?- Clark." Lex read it and smiled.

He continued to talk about the importance of fertilizer to the investors he was in conference with as he typed, "Clark, she's been brought to Belle Reve. It's a shame she wasn't right. I would have liked to have you as a brother. You're bored I am being kept busy by my father. In phone conference with Japan.- Lex."

The response was almost immediate and left off the names. "If you're in a conference why are you emailing me? I'm sort of glad she was wrong. We're closer than brothers anyway." Lex replied saying, "You have five minutes left of free period do some work, young man." There was a lull and Lex finished his conference and played some pool. He heard the noise that told him he'd received another email. "It's lunch and now I'm really bored. Check this out. How ridiculous is that? I almost want one. Can we do something this weekend? I feel like we haven't hung out in forever."

Lex clicked on the "check this out" which was a link Clark had sent him. It led to a website selling champagne flavored lollypop that had gold leaf inside. Lex laughed and responded to the email accordingly, "Do something big or small? Are we taking about Metropolis or pizza? And a lollypop that cost seven dollars_ is_ ridiculous. Only people with more money than sense would buy that."

He picked up the phone and dialed the number on the website. He clicked through the contents of the site as he waited for an answer. "Hello," he said when a woman finally picked up. "I need to place an order. Yes, I need fifty gold lollypops and four grams of pearl dust. Also, can I have this over-nighted? Excellent." He gave the woman his credit card number and address and didn't flinch at the fact that he'd just spent nearly a thousand dollars on candy and something sparkly to add to champagne and desserts. Clearly, Lex had more money than sense.

The message, "I want to go for pizza in Metropolis. Somewhere where your dad can't bug you." made Lex laugh. And he typed what was the shortest email yet, "You're parents aren't going to go for that." The response was almost instant. "I'll say you're dragging me to the opera." Lex laughed again. He was having a better time now than he had since his father had moved in. "Or," he typed, "you could _not_ lie and I could take you to see Carmen. In fact, I like the idea: I'm buying the tickets right now." He bought the tickets online. Afterwards he added to the email, "Fifth row. We'll have a great time. Come to the mansion after school tomorrow; we'll make a weekend of it." And ten minutes later Lex received the response, "You suck." He smiled to himself and decided to get some real work done.

Friday, Lex's order arrived at one, Clark came at three. Lex threw a bag of cheap dum-dum suckers at Clark's head, "There are two hundred in there and they cost five dollars: that's value." Clark ate half of them while Lex finished his work.

By four they were on their way to Metropolis. While the city was a hundred miles away Lex got them there in an hour and ten minutes in the Lamborghini. During the ride, Clark was in charge of the music but was aware of Lex's tastes and kept to hardcore techno.

"Clark, hand me a lollypop?" asked Lex over the blare of the music and wind.

"I left them at the mansion!" Clark shouted back.

Lex felt frustrated at talking over the wind and shut the roof of the Porsche, "There's some in the glove compartment."

Smiling Clark said, "Since when do you like candy?" He opened the glove compartment and had gold lollypops fall into his lap. "Lex! What the heck?"

"I couldn't help it," said Lex putting out a hand for one of the suckers.

They talked about school, work, and Clark finally said, "Lex, your house is bugged. I need to talk to you, tell you something, but your house is covered in bugs. And you most likely won't be happy with what I have to say. Is there someplace we can go? Maybe on Sunday? Let's have a nice weekend first."

"How do you know it's bugged?" asked Lex.

"The same way I know this car is bugged. I'll tell you on Sunday?"

"The Lamborghini is bugged?" Lex nearly screamed.

"Just for visual, it's under the front fender. It takes pictures of where you're going. All of your cars are," Clark said trying to ease the shock.

"What do you need to tell me?" asked Lex. He turned to fully look at Clark. He saw that Clark looked almost like he was going to vomit.

Clark looked out the window instead of at Lex as he said, "Everything, Lex, I need to tell you everything."

Managing to only blink a couple of times Lex nodded. He pulled the Lamborghini into the underground parking lot of his penthouse's apartment building. "Okay, pizza: order in or go someplace?"

As they got out of the car Clark said, "If we go out people will stare at you."

Lex threw his keys to the parking attendant. "I don't mind." Lex lied. He didn't want to keep Clark cloistered while in Metropolis just because he didn't like attention.

"No," said Clark, "this is supposed to be a quiet weekend. We left Smallville to make sure."

Lex nodded, "Delivery it is. Let's hope it doesn't turn into porn." In the elevator he said, "You've never come to my apartment, have you?"

"No."

"I'll give you the tour." The elevator opened with a key into a foyer that was, by itself, larger than most apartments. Lex threw his coat onto a chair and started pointing. "Kitchen's in there. Living room, media room, office, bedroom, guest bedroom, dining room, and the three bathrooms."

"This is huge, Lex." Clark looked around with wide eyes.

Laughing Lex said, "I need the space for my huge family and all my friends for the six times a year I use the place. You know how much company I keep."

"Lex," Clark said, "I didn't mean to upset you."

"No," Lex waved him off. "I agree. It's huge. You should call your parents and let them know we're here and didn't crash the car on the way here. There's a phone in the living room. I'm going to find us some sodas in the kitchen. Throw your stuff anywhere." In the kitchen Lex found sodas, chips, and set up the coffee maker so there would be coffee ready when he woke up in the morning, he hated waiting for coffee. He saw fresh milk and bread in the fridge and silently thanked his cleaning staff. He had told them he would be sleeping at his apartment the night before and it was nice to see that someone had taken note.

Clark dropped his bag down and went to call home. Lex came into the living room to hear Clark say, "We'll be home Sunday morning. Is Dad okay with the farm?... I did the back forty before school… yeah… okay. Love you too."

Handing Clark a can of Coke Lex said, "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, they can handle everything for a few days without me."

"I don't understand how you and your dad manage that huge farm by yourselves."

"Well, Lex, you know I'm not exactly normal," Clark smiled, "But that's a conversation for Sunday."

"Is this place bugged?" asked Lex with a smile, this was the safest place on Earth so he knew the answer before even asking.

Clark looked around and reached for a pad of paper on the table. "No," he said as he wrote. "Bugged for sound in here: behind the horse painting. There's audio in the kitchen in the microwave's engine, in the dining room sideboard, and in the headboard in the guest bedroom. There's visual in the bedroom, inside of your CD player, which is disturbing."

With a nod Lex asked, "How do you know it's clean?"

Clark looked down at his hands as he scrunched up the page he'd written on. "Don't make me lie, Lex, please. I don't want to lie to you. I'm so sick of it. I'll tell you everything on Sunday but right now just accept it."

"Well, I'm going to get cleaners in here tomorrow and I'll bet you ten dollars that you're wrong. My dad loves listening in on me. Why don't you go through the movie collection in the media room? I have pretty much everything. I'm going to make a few calls in the office. After that I'll be finally done with work for the weekend."

"Need a lollypop to ease the workload?" Clark held up the bag he'd grabbed from the car that was filled with the pops. Lex smiled and took a handful.

There were thousands of films in the collection. Clark speed-read all of them and had pulled five when Lex came in. Looking at the selection Lex smiled, "Horror movies?"

"If that's okay with you," replied Clark.

"It's fine with me, have you seen these ones?"

"No, none of them. What's a good one?"

Lex looked at the choice saying, "_Whatever Happened to Baby Jane_? is really good. It's scary." Watching the film Clark was getting tenser and tenser and Lex asked softly "Are you okay?"

"I'm really glad Rachel was wrong. I would never want to end up with you torturing me in a wheelchair."

Lex laughed and said, "Maybe it is a good thing."

Looking away from the screen Clark said, "I really am glad we aren't related… it would make some of my feelings for you kind of sick." He glanced away from Lex. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Don't," said Lex, "don't be sorry. Don't be sorry for caring about someone. Never apologize for the way you feel."

"Yeah but you can't be pleased. I'm sorry if I've upset you by saying it. I've kept my mouth shut for so long."

Lex forced Clark to look at him by guiding his face towards him. "Clark, I'm not angry. When you put it like that I'm pleased you're not my brother." He put an arm around Clark's shoulder and pulled him back. "Just relax, it's fine. Enjoy the film." He left his arm where it was and curled his fingers into Clark's hair.

As it finished Clark said, "Well, that was interesting."

"This doesn't have to change anything, Clark. Nothing needs to change. We can be just the same if you want."

"And what if I want things to change? What then, Lex? Is that going to be okay?"

"Yeah. That'll be okay too. It'll be harder but it's not out of the question. I'm not going to lie and say that it's not what I want. But right now, I'm going to order the pizza. What do you want on yours?"

"Cheddar and peppers. And thanks, for not being angry."

After he placed the order Lex turned to Clark and said, "I don't know how to do this Clark."

"I'm too young, it's wrong, it's illegal. I know. I get it."

"No. You're young but you know what you're doing. Emotions never get clearer, no matter how old you get. If you want this and I want this then it isn't wrong. I don't want to hurt you and you aren't doing this to hurt me. It could just be the rightist thing I've ever done in my personal life. And as for illegal, well, I've never gotten in trouble for anything I've ever done. I'm just worried about what happens if we… break up." He winced at how teenaged that sounded. "I never want to lose you. You're the first real friend I've had since Bruce Wayne and I don't want that to end. I like having two friends."

"You think I want to lose you either? You're my best friend. So how do we avoid that?"

"Honesty, and I think we need to keep our friendship first and foremost. Anything else is secondary to that. If we're honest and we're friends I think we can do it. I think you also need to tell your parents, we can't keep it a secret forever, and maybe if you tell them from the start they'll have an easier time accepting it."

They sat in silence, waiting for the other to make the first move. Finally the phone rang and Lex picked up. "Yes?... Send him up… Thank you." Turning to Clark he said, "Pizza's here. I think next movie needs to be _The Exorcist_, scariest film ever." As the bell rang he went to open the elevator door. He paid calling over to Clark, "Grab some napkins from the kitchen and we can eat in the media room." He took the boxes through with him. Handing one to Clark he sat down.

Opening the box Clark said, "Ham and pineapple?" They traded boxes and then traded slices, the way they always did. They ate watching the film but again Clark was getting tense. "Does this have a happy ending?"

"Do you want me to turn it off?"

"No, it's just scary as hell."

"I needed to turn it off the first time I saw it and I was seventeen."

"I'm okay, I just won't be sleeping anytime soon."

"You need a goodnight's sleep before the opera."

"I can't sleep after this!" argued Clark. He put aside his now empty pizza box and said, "You think after, 'The sow is mine' I'm going to be able to sleep? Get real, Lex."

"You can sleep in my bed," offered Lex. Seeing the shock in Clark's face Lex said, "Or you can forget about that I just said that."

"No don't forget it." Clark stretched his arms over his head. "Turn this off. Maybe I could watch it in daylight… I'm going to wear pajamas. Okay?"

"Of course it's okay. You _can_ sleep in the guest room."

"No, I want to be in your bed. I just… I don't know what I'm doing, Lex. I've never…"

"I haven't either." Lex saw the look of disbelief on Clark's face and said, "I've been with people, men, but not you. And I'm not being sentimental here. I've never been with someone whom I cared for before I slept with them. I've been with people I cared about but I only felt that way about them after weeks of sex. I'm… in love with you Clark, I want you by my side for life… and we're not sleeping together. That scares me."

"You love me?" asked Clark.

"I thought that was what we were talking about."

"Lex, you don't love people. You don't let people get that close to you. I know you like me, thought you wanted me, but I didn't think you loved me."

"Clark, I weigh risks and gains. If I just liked you, wanted you, the risk of this wouldn't be worth it. I've been tearing myself up inside since the day you gave me mouth to mouth. I want you in every sphere of my life, every minute of the day, every inch of my body. I want all of you, Clark. I've never felt this way with or without sex. Adding in physical intimacy is a huge risk. But I want to take the risk because the gain would be incredible. I was happy when Rachel Dunleavy said we were brothers because I thought it would bring me closer to you than I ever expected. My family is screwed up to a level Freud wouldn't believe. I thought it would be good if we were brothers. I could cope with being in love with my brother if it got me closer to you. But this is better, without blood making it weird. So go put on your PJs."

Clark leaned forward and kissed Lex slowly. Lex grabbed his face and pulled him closer. The kiss lacked fineness; it was a year and a half of longing trying to fit itself into a single kiss. Teeth clashed and noses bumped and Lex thought it was as close to perfection as possible. When they broke apart Clark said, "I taste of pizza. And I've loved you from the moment you hit me with your car."

Smiling at Clark's admission Lex said, "You taste great. Bed."

"There's a camera in your bedroom. The CD player."

Lex sighed, "Damn it… it's better than the one in the living room. I'm going to bring it out 'so you can hear Carmen'. We'll leave it facing a wall."

"Sounds like a good plan."

As they left the room Lex said, "No, Clark, you will like it. Let me get the good CD player and you can hear some, you'll love it."

"Lex, I'm never going to like opera. You should give up now."

"Just listen to a minute of it," argued Lex. He went into his room and brought the CD player and placed it so that it was facing a wall. He sorted through his CD collection and brought out the disk. They listened to a little bit.

When Lex nodded to Clark, the boy said, "Well, maybe tomorrow won't suck but I still can't see it being fun."

"Fine," said the other man. "I'm exhausted and I want to enjoy tomorrow night. So, goodnight."

Clark picked up his bag and followed Lex into the master bedroom. "We are so smooth."

"Bathroom's in there," Lex pointed to a door on the side of his room as he walked towards his closet. "I haven't worn sleepwear in years."

"Lex, I don't want you to change for me."

Lex shook his head, "I want you comfortable in my bed so I can touch you, and kiss you, and listen to you breathe throughout the night. Go change."

In the bathroom Clark smiled at the mirror. This was happening. And he hadn't planned it. When Rachel Dunleavy had appeared and claimed to be Clark's mother it had freaked him out. But when he saw how happy Lex seemed it had hurt. He never wanted Lex for a brother and now he was getting everything he had ever wanted from the man. He pulled off his clothes and pulled on flannel pants. Nervousness filled Clark but he pushed it away. They would take it as it happened, not rush it or keep it slow, they would go at their pace and be honest with one another. He cracked his neck, brushed his teeth, and opened the door to see Lex already in bed. He turned off the light behind himself and walked to the bed. Getting there he reached for Lex's face and climbed into bed kissing Lex. He groaned in the back of his throat as Lex licked his lips gently. Opening himself to the onslaught Clark felt lightheaded and happy.

"You brushed your teeth!" Lex complained panting as they broke apart. "Now I have to brush mine."

"Don't move," begged Clark. "You're delicious. Stay with me."

"I won't go anywhere." Lex promised as he claimed Clark's mouth. Pulling Clark closer he ran one hand over the boy's shoulders and the other through his hair. Clark was touching Lex everywhere he could reach. His hands slid under the waist of Lex's pants feeling the man's hip bones. They were hard against one another and writhing. Gasping Lex asked, "Are you okay? Is this okay?"

"I think this is better than okay."

"Yeah," agreed Lex, "kissing isn't this amazing."

"Can I touch you?"

"As long as I can touch you in the same ways. You're skin is so soft."

"Lex, thank you, thank you for this. This is everything I ever… Don't let me go."

"Never," agreed Lex. His had his hands in the small of Clark's back, rubbing, massaging, and encouraging him onwards.

"I can't," said Clark suddenly and vehemently and Lex moved to release him.

"It's alright," said Lex. "We can stop. It's okay."

"No, I can't wear these pants. Need all your skin against mine. Need you so bad, Lex."

Almost laughing in relief, Lex reached for the waistband of Clark's pants to strip him as Clark did the same. Once the offending layers had been removed Lex asked, "Better?" And Clark didn't reply he slid his fingers between their bodies and wrapped them around Lex's erection. "If you touch me I touch you," Lex reminded him.

"Please," replied Clark pushing closer, "I want you to touch me. Every time I came to see you, you would bring up Lana. And I had a crush on her but I never came to you to talk about her, not really. It just gave me a reason to be there. Only ever wanted you."

"Love you," breathed Lex as he kissed a line down Clark's neck. He could feel the pulse beneath Clark's skin and it was stronger and slower than any he'd ever heard. It was hard to believe how hard Clark's breath was in comparison to his easy pulse. But the beat ran steadily beneath his tongue and hand. "You're wonderful. You're everything."

Clark was just murmuring Lex's name over and over. He gripped the other man's shoulder. He never wanted this to end; he had wanted this since the moment they met. As they stroked one another Clark begged, "Lex, need your mouth."

"It's yours," promised Lex kissing back to Clark's mouth. As though sensing that Clark was getting worried he said, "I'm yours. No one else's. Never again. I'm yours for as long as you'll have me, longer. Keep me."

"Always. I'm immortal, Lex, I don't think I can die. And I don't want to be without you. Stay with me, Lex. Please, always." Clark reached for Lex as though Lex were his last hope.

Their mouths met and all begging and pledging ceased. They clung to one another and moved in sync and Lex laughed into Clark's mouth. "Who'd have thought you and I would end up here? And it's perfect." Clark laughed against Lex's mouth. "It's true."

"It's not even sex," countered Clark.

Pulling at the flesh in his hand Lex said, "It's not sex; we're making love. It's a rare form of sex."

"Lex, I'm gonna come," moaned Clark.

Lex laughed again, "So come, it's not the end. Let go." Clark came with a groan into Lex's hand and continued to stroke the man and kissed him slowly.

"Lex," he whimpered. Lex held the boy closer to him and came within a few rough breaths.

"I've got you," Lex said, "I've got you." Reaching to the floor he grabbed a pair of abandoned pants from the floor and wiped at their stomachs. He saw the way Clark was fighting off sleep, trying to keep his eyes open and said, "Go to sleep. I'm not going anywhere." The youth went pliant in his arms and Lex pulled him close. It was rare that he wanted to stay with the individual after sex but he wanted to breathe in Clark's scent and just enjoy it. Within moments he had joined Clark in the unconscious realm.

As he reemerged into the waking world Lex felt a body against his back. He could feel hard lines and angles and thought, "Not earrings, cufflinks." He opened his eyes and saw the penthouse walls. Sighing internally, he thought he shouldn't have brought a one nightstand to his damned apartment. As he reached for the phone to call the jewelers and the parking lot he saw the hand resting on his hip. He knew that hand and he relaxed.

"You okay?" asked Clark he sounded awake, as though he'd been up for at least a few minutes.

"Better than that. Sleep well?" he asked as he turned over. Clark nodded. Lex leaned in to kiss him good morning. "Are you okay?"

"Don't make me get out of this bed for a few more hours and I'll be great." He thought and then said, "Actually, I need to pee and brush my teeth. But then I want to stay here."

Rolling away Lex said, "I'll make us coffee and meet you back here in five minutes."

Clark stood up slowly and stretched with his back to Lex. Feeling eyes on his body he blushed and turning towards the bed he reached for a sheet. Lex moved over to stop his hand and Clark said, "Lex, I'm naked."

"You're the most gorgeous person I've ever seen. Don't hide from me." Clark blushed even more violently but let go of the sheet. Lex stood up, unashamed of his nudity and said, "I'm brushing my teeth in the kitchen," and moved past his lover, "Milk and sugar, right?" Clark nodded Lex said, "See you in a minute."

The coffee maker was full of hot, caffeinated, bliss and Lex poured the drink into two mugs, filled them with milk and sugar. He brushed his teeth over the sink. He didn't remember a morning this nice. It was grey outside but he didn't care, this was what mornings were meant to be like. As he passed the media room he thought that he should grab _The Exorcist_ and so went into the room and carried the film back to bed with him. Clark was standing at the window. The view of Metropolis was stunning despite being overcast and Clark was looking out over the expanse of the city. Lex stood on tip toe to drape himself over Clark's back. He kissed the tall boy's neck and handed him a cup of coffee.

"Morning," he said. Holding up the DVD Lex asked, "Think you can manage it in daylight?"

Clark laughed, "We could try." He turned around and kissed Lex, "Morning… Being naked is great."

Laughing Lex said, "Are we still okay? After last night, I mean."

"It's weird, definitely, but we're still good."

Lex nodded and moved to put the DVD into the bedroom's media system, "Let's see about staying in bed for a few more hours." He clicked through the menu to find the scene where they'd left off the night before and joined Clark in bed. "If it gets to be too much you can use me as a sexy human shield."

As the movie progressed Clark yet again became tense even though Lex was rubbing soothing circles into his hip. Maybe that was part of it. When the phone rang Clark nearly jumped out of his skin. Lex laughed and said, "Should I pause it?"

"Yeah, I need more coffee. Can I top you up?"

"That would be great," replied Lex reaching for the phone. He answered with a short, "Yeah?"

"Did I interrupt something?"

"Only a little, Bruce. What's up?"

"Well, I phoned your house to invite you to the opera tonight but they told me you were already attending it and were in the city. I know it's short notice but would you like to meet for dinner?"

"Um, gimme a second." As Clark came back in carrying the coffee Lex asked, "Do you want to go to dinner with a friend of mine?"

Clark handed Lex one of the mugs and said, "That depends, do you actually like this person?" He heard laughter from the phone and said, "Lex, you didn't cover the mouth piece."

"It's my friend Bruce. He's not offended; he's asked the same question in the past. You can say no: this is supposed to be a quiet weekend."

"No, if you like him then I'm sure it'll be fun."

"Bruce, seven o'clock at Demina's?"

"Sounds, great. Is that your latest conquest in the background?" Bruce's voice sounded knowing and amused.

"It's Clark Kent."

"That doesn't answer the question, Alex."

"We'll see you at seven," replied Lex before hanging up on his laughing friend.

They recommenced the film and once the credits were rolling Clark said, "That was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen."

"Outside of events in reality, I agree with you. Want to take a shower? It'll be the best shower of your life."

"Is your shower that amazing?"

"No but the blowjob I'm going to give you will be."

The day passed by with gentle kisses, take out Vietnamese food, and equal time was shared between the couch and the bed. They went out for a couple of hours while the 'cleaners' came and found all the bugs without Lex telling them the locations. In the streets of Metropolis, Lex played tour guide. He pointed out important land marks, a brief history, and a falsely glib personal background story. "I got arrested here." "I broke my ribs falling down the stairs in there while drunk."

Eventually they wound their way back to Lex's apartment. Clark ate cold lemongrass chicken in chili and Lex raised an eyebrow and said, "We're going to dinner in two hours."

"I'll be hungry," Clark replied watching Lex pour a drink. "Can I blow you in the kitchen?"

Lex had just taken a sip of his brandy Alexander which he then spewed out all over his silk shirt. He looked down at the ruined silk and then back at Clark, "What? Seriously? I have to stop wearing silk around you. Sex in the kitchen, why?"

"The marble counter tops are like your skin… sorry, lame," Clark blushed as a smirk came over Lex's face.

As Clark started to turn away Lex grabbed his arm, "Let's go christen the counters." He walked towards the kitchen stripping his shirt off. He dropped it into the trash and kicked his shoes and socks off and jumped up onto the counter. Swinging his legs back and forth he grinned at Clark who was still standing in the doorway. "Come over here." Clark joined him looking almost hesitant and Lex pulled him close and kissed him slowly. Sighing into Clark's mouth Lex said, "Don't stress out. It's you and me, you can stop anytime, you won't mess up, no one's keeping score."

Clark whispered against Lex's lips, "Love you." He dove into Lex's mouth and there were hands searching out skin. Lex slid his hands under Clark's tee shirt. They broke apart long enough to strip Clark of his layers and pull one another back. As Lex was on the counter, and a couple of inches higher than he normally was, their crotches were perfectly lined up. Taking advantage of the lack of height difference they were grinding against one another franticly. Clark's hands went to Lex's belt and fly. Breaking apart they both breathed rigidly. And Clark kissed a line down Lex's stomach and dropped to his knees he breathed in the scent of Lex's crotch. He smelled good, expensive soap and sweat, and Lex. Pushing the cloth of Lex's trousers back he pulled Lex's cock out and held him gently. And he said softly, "How can I _really_ mess up?" He slowly started stroking Lex.

"Just don't use your teeth," Lex laughed and reached down to hold Clark's face. He ran his thumbs over the boy's cheeks. "And you can stop at anytime. I won't be angry. Do whatever you like."

Clark nodded and took the flesh into his mouth. It was weird on his tongue the tissue was spongy yet solid and it felt comfortingly heavy in his mouth. He liked the place where the head and shaft met; the difference in texture was fun. It felt good and Lex was stroking his face. While Clark knew he was clumsy and unpolished Lex was moaning and clearly fighting not to thrust into Clark's willing mouth. The action was making Clark hard; it felt so good to have Lex falling apart because of him. But Clark knew he couldn't really take it if Lex thrust.

Lex was huge and Clark couldn't figure out how the girls in porn could possibly fit a cock in their mouths. Pete's older brothers had a lot of porn and Clark couldn't figure out how they, those girls, did it, was it an illusion? Some big magic trick? 'Cause he just didn't think his mouth was big enough… and he had a pretty big mouth. He massaged Lex's balls because he liked it when he did it to himself when jerking off. And he swallowed his saliva but then worried as he was swallowing that maybe he shouldn't until Lex groaned and his fingers tightened slightly.

"I'm gonna come," Lex managed to choked out. It was meant as a warning but Clark ignored it. He wanted to taste Lex. Even if it was awful he wanted that part of Lex. So he swallowed again and Lex came with a muttered curse and Clark's name. Clark nearly gagged on the taste but he swallowed and concentrated on the feeling of Lex's fingers on his face. He focused on the burning need he felt inside himself and the soft words of endearment and comfort spilling from Lex's mouth as the older boy pulled him up and kissed him slowly. Against Clark's lips he said, "Thank you. What do you want?"

"Anything," said Clark.

"No," Lex was almost laughing pulling back slightly, "not 'what would get you off': what do you want?"

"Bed?" suggested Clark. He wanted to be naked and flush against Lex's skin but he couldn't quite bring himself to say it aloud.

"You're blushing." Clark shut his eyes as he felt warmth flood over his skin. He thought, blushing is fine, just don't let me shoot heat out of my eyes. "You don't need to be embarrassed."

"It's not… When I have dirty thoughts I have… heat shoot out of my eyes. Gimme a second." Lex started to laugh. "I'm totally serious. I started that fire in Desiree's class, and in the Talon. But I never blew up her car. The school and the Talon weren't on purpose: I didn't even know what it was. The one at the police station was on purpose, but I knew you were in danger… It's been a weird few months."

"So all you need is a filthy mind and we can have a bonfire?"

"Yeah, I've learned to control it… mostly." He ran his hands down Lex's back and finally reopened his eyes, "It's tricky."

"Do you have a lot of… abilities?" asked Lex, he sounded amused and Clark felt his blush rising again.

Clark had promised himself that he would be honest. He wasn't excited about telling Lex the truth as he didn't want his friend to get angry. He felt his erection wilt as he said, "I can run really fast… Smallville to Metropolis in under twenty minutes fast, I got shot with an automatic and the bullets bounced off me, I'm strong, I can see through solid objects-"

"You got shot?"

Seeing the look of concern Clark said, "I only bruised, and I've gotten stronger since then."

"Who the hell shot you?" asked Lex sounding murderous.

But the question made Clark smile, "You did. When Bob Rickman shook your hand he made you do it. His handshake didn't do anything to me so he came at me through you."

"But you're still here with me this weekend?" Lex sound uncertain and Clark understood why. He wasn't angry that his friend didn't believe him. The onus was on Clark to tell the truth not Lex to believe it.

"You would never hurt me on purpose. If I didn't trust you I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't tell you any of this." He smiled and pulled away. "Besides," he went to the knife block, "I'm pretty much invulnerable. Even if there is another Bob Rickman in the wings, I'm safe and I'll protect you." He selected a large, frightening carving knife and asked, "Is it okay if this gets broken?"

Lex was still studying Clark and he shrugged, "It doesn't matter. But, Clark-"

Before Lex could ask more questions or call Clark a liar the boy brought the blade down as hard as he could against his arm. Clark heard Lex's frightened exclamation just before the metal touched his skin and shattered. "See." Lex was pale and grabbing Clark's arm, "I'm fine."

Staring at the unmarred skin Lex said, "What the fuck were you thinking?" the voice was cold and low and Clark didn't think he'd ever heard such strong language from Lex before.

Taken aback Clark started to explain, "Lex, I'm-"

"Be quiet," Lex interrupted. He was rubbing the skin of Clark's arm as though to reassure himself that Clark was safe. "I'm incredulous when you tell me that you're a fucking tank. So instead of giving me a minute to adjust you decide to stab yourself as a fucking demonstration? What if this one time your skin decided it wasn't perfect? What if this one time you ended up and stabbed and bleeding in the kitchen. Be glad your mother isn't here, Martha would kill you for being so reckless. Moron. God, that was so stupid."

"Lex, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Scare me?" Lex repeated. "You just stabbed yourself in the fucking arm, Clark. Scare me?"

"It's so normal for me… I mean I've been like this my whole life. I'm sorry."

As though he was just realizing his actions Lex released Clark's arm and said, "Just warn me when you're going to do something terrifying." He seemed to shake off his anger, pulled Clark back towards him, and kissed him slowly. "Don't stab yourself again, okay?" He smiled again, finally a little recovered from the shock and said, "So meteors?"

That felt like a jab to Clark even though he knew it wasn't meant to be one. "No… not exactly… it's…"

"A conversation for tomorrow?" guessed Lex.

"Sorry."

"Don't be. I never thought you'd be this honest with me."

"I've always wanted to be. I was just scared. Meteor freak isn't exactly a friendly label."

Lex nodded. Clark knew that Lex had been called it in the past, he lost his hair the day of the meteor shower and everyone knew his immune system was juiced through the roof. The once sickly Luthor heir hadn't been ill since, healed fast, and was just slightly too strong. "What changed?"

"Rachel came and I knew I wasn't who she said I was and I didn't want you to be in the dark as to why. Maybe if you'd known she wouldn't have been able to-"

"Hindsight is a gift no one possesses at the time," Lex interrupted, "come on. You said bed." Lex hopped off the counter and pulled his pants up a little. That nearly made Clark laugh: the realization that Lex had been sitting exposed for the whole conversation. As Lex passed the microwave he paused, "Is that really the time?"

Clark glanced at the display that read 6:40. "I think so."

"We have twenty minutes before meeting Bruce and we reek of kitchen sex."

"Shower?" suggested Clark.

"Yeah, or else the restaurant and the theater will all resent and envy us… and Bruce will be catty… but Bruce is usually catty." Lex stripped as he walked towards the master bedroom.

Forty minutes later they walked into Demina's. Lex pointed to a pissed looking guy at the bar, "See, bitchy." He smiled vaguely at the maitre de and walked into the bar area. "Bruce, sorry, we got held up. Have a gold leaf lollypop," Lex said holding out one of the confectionary delights.

Bruce smiled as he saw it, "You really know the way to my heart. That's just… decedent. And hey, you're always late. That's why I made the reservation for seven thirty. Drinks and introductions," he held out a hand to Clark, "Bruce Wayne. You must be Clark Kent. What can I get for you?"

"A coke would be great." Clark smiled as he took Bruce's hand.

With faux interests and shock asked, "Are you a minor?"

"Next he'll start in with the breakfast club," muttered Lex rolling his eyes.

"Are you a virgin?" asked Bruce.

Aloud Lex said, "It wasn't even a good movie."

"Blasphemy. Clark liked it, didn't you, Clark?"

"Um," Clark looked between the two.

"Why do you have to be such a prick when you first meet people?" asked Lex.

"It's part of my image." The bartender came over and Bruce said, "Three rum and cokes. Hold the rum on the third." Turning back he said, "You haven't come to Gotham in months, you dick."

"Just give me a hug and let's pretend we like each other." Bruce wrapped his arms tightly around Lex and they stood still for a few moments. "I meant to come see you but Dad's been squatting in my house and some woman claimed to be Clark's mom from an affair with my father."

"Wow, Alfred's taken up mosaics… I thought it was exciting. He's making a really ugly mural in the kitchen."

"I liked the socks he knitted me."

"Alfred and his hobbies." Bruce shrugged, "So, Clark, how did you get roped into the opera?"

"I thought we could use a weekend break and it seemed like a good cover but instead he," he gestured to Lex, "_he_ decided it was a good idea."

Bruce nodded, "At least it's a once off. Alfred thinks I like this. He always gets me tickets. And I just can't bring myself to tell him otherwise. Where are you sitting?"

"Fifth row," offered Lex.

"I have an empty box if you'd rather?"

Lex looked to Clark who gave an assenting shrug. "Absolutely."

Bruce took the drinks from the barkeep and said, "Excellent." Glancing over he said, "Oh and the maitre de's telling us that the table's ready."

Over dinner they chatted about current affairs, politics, school, business, Alfred's desire to get a puppy. Bruce told Lex he'd been seeing a woman named Jillian Maxwell but that, it turned out, she had a list of aliases and she married men and then killed them for the inheritance. In response Lex told him all about Desiree trying to get Mr. Kent to kill him. And Clark added that she had framed him for blowing up a car. Lex smiled at that and Clark knew that Lex was thinking of their earlier conversation about all the fires.

Lex left to use the bathroom and Bruce leaned towards Clark and said, "I don't think I'm supposed to know but… Don't fuck this up, Clark. I would hate to have to hurt you." Clark smiled in response and Bruce said, "I'm not joking."

"I didn't think you were," replied Clark. "I'm just pleased that there's you on Lex's side. I don't want to 'fuck this up'. But I'm still glad that you're taking the time to threaten me: that you're doing it on Lex's behalf. 'Cause I know my parents, friends, lots of people would do it for me but… I mean, you know Lionel… and the papers or, whatever, they would just say that he's raping a minor… so, yeah. Thank you for the threat."

Lex came back and asked, "Were you talking about me?"

"Bruce was just saying he'll break my legs if this ends badly."

"He won't," Lex assured him. "He'll pay someone to do it."

"Actually, Alfred's great with a crowbar. He's truly vicious."

When the bill came Bruce got pissed that Lex grabbed it before he could.

"You know the rules, you pay in Gotham." Lex said sounding like he wanted to add a nah-nah-nah-nah-nah afterwards.

"Yeah but I've been out four times since the last time you were in Gotham."

"Obey the rules, boy." Clark smiled, Lex was more comfortable and relaxed than he ever was in Smallville. Lex slid his card into the bill's envelope and said, "So we'll follow you. Yeah?"

In the Lamborghini Lex asked, "So, what do you think of Bruce?"

"He's cool. He calls you Alex. You were roommates? So is he, like, a business guy too?"

Lex laughed, "He's Bruce Wayne." Clark looked at him blankly. "Wayne Enterprises? Is the patron of Gotham and most of the east coast? Really, Clark, nothing?"

"I think he might have made one of our tractors? Does he make tractors?"

"Not with his own hands," Lex joked, "but it's probable that his company makes them."

"He doesn't really seem like a business tycoon… sometimes you do but… he just doesn't seem like he could be serious for long enough to get anything done."

Lex nodded and said, "Yeah, but that's an act."

"What do you mean?"

"He puts on the devil may care attitude. He cares. Most of the time he puts on a stupid playboy mask. With his friends he puts on an 'I'm totally happy with life' act. He's not."

"Does it bother you?" asked Clark.

"The act doesn't bother me in the least, we all have different faces, none of them are fake and some of them aren't true. The fact that he's miserable bothers me a lot. Plus, oddly, (and this goes no further than us and maybe your parents- ever- I'm only telling you this because you're you and I think some day you maybe be in the same position and you might need to talk to him), I think he's Batman."

"What? Why do you think that? Why would I need to talk to him?"

"When I say 'think' I'm actually being tactful, he's not very good at hiding it. He can hide it from the world, maybe, but I'm his best friend. Plus, one time I was at his manor I sort of wandered into his 'bat cave' by mistake. I was really shitfaced and Batman helped me find my way back to bed while complaining that my ass was both fat and heavy in a voice that was two octaves higher than the one he uses on the news… I think that he believes I was too gone to remember. As for you needing him… I'm not saying you should become like him, or that it's a duty, or something. But you already save everyone. And I think, the older you get, the more abilities you attain, the more unable you're going to be to let stuff happen. Just… don't have a cowl, it's ugly."

"You think I'm going to be like Batman?"

"I sort of hope you don't, because I think it'll end up making you miserable, there too much awfulness in the world and you would want to shoulder it all. I hope you're happier and kinder than he is… but yeah, I genuinely think you'll end up being a superhero."

"Happier and kinder?" repeated Clark.

Lex sighed, "He's my best friend and more like family than my own father, I love Bruce but Batman is frightening. I think he does great things… but he's still frightening. He doesn't let anyone in and I think it's breaking him. Every time I see him he looks more tired. Alfred's the only person he really lets get close… you need someone. I mean, I'm shut off, I know. But I have you, Bruce, I have your family, who (even when they don't like me) back me up. People make a difference."

Clark saw the sadness in Lex's face as he spoke about Bruce and he said gently, "Cheer up, maybe you're right and I'll wear a cape. And we'll become friends and found a super group. Like the Super Awesome Friends League of the United States of Justice." Lex laughed "You can be an honorary member… or like learn to use a lasso so well that we have to let you in."

"A lasso?"

"Well you're talking about being happier and I can't think of a super-tool less offensive and giggle worthy."

"So you want me to be the laughingstock?"

"More like light comic relief who always pulls through."

"Is this a functional group or a Saturday Morning cartoon?"

"Maybe both. We could maybe live off the money from the cartoon but the cartoon would be based on our awesome exploits… And maybe, y'know for the sake of cheering Bruce up, we could all have stupid outfits. I doubt he'll be willing to lose the bat but I could wear like, my underwear over my pants… or tights. That would be pretty ridiculous. And you could wear a ten gallon hat and supersonic chaps."

"Supersonic chaps?"

"Superheroes always have weird ass accessories that make little sense. But, the chaps make sense, with the lasso and all. Lex the Lassoing Lieutenant… a nice alliterative handle."

"And what will we call you?"

Clark gave him a look that told Lex he was stupid and it was obvious, "Clark."

Lex smiled as he pulled up in front of the theater and said, "All jokes aside, I've just told you a huge secret. And he wouldn't be angry, not if he knew who you are, but he doesn't. And I know I can trust you because you deal with your own secret. But don't try to josh him about it, or anything." Clark reached for Lex's hand and squeezed gently.

"How long have you known?"

"Three years."

"And you didn't tell anyone?"

"You're the only person who I trust, felt it was relevant to, and thought would benefit as opposed to suffer for knowing. You're the only person who Bruce wouldn't kill me for telling… not if he knew you like I did."

A parking attendant opened the driver's side door with a simple, "Evening Mr. Luthor."

"Hello," Lex said with an easy smile.

"You don't need a card, we know your car," The attendant smiled in return and Lex nodded as he got out and stepped onto the curb.

At the box office Lex told the woman to sell their tickets to someone else but to keep the money he'd paid as a contribution to the arts. The three young men went up through a large stairway to a box where an attendant came to offer them drinks.

"I thought you couldn't have food in theaters?" asked Clark as the man left.

"You can't if you're in normal seats but if you're in a box the management thinks you're refined. The plebs down there," Lex pointed over's the box's banister, "they're liable to spill something on the upholstery. We're better bred."

"Which is funny," Bruce added, "because, as spoiled rich kids, Alex and I are liable to get ratassed and vomit everywhere because we don't really appreciate the arts we're just here to meet the right sort of one-night stands."

"Speak for yourself," Lex sounded genuinely offended, "I love Carmen."

The lights dimmed and the three took their seats. Bruce spent much of the play looking at his nails and folding several copies of the playbill into origami swans, fish, and spherical boxes. At intermission Lex asked mildly, "Why don't you just not come? You could just tell Alfred you came, it's not like you can't BS on Carmen."

Bruce looked slightly taken aback as he said, "Lie to Alfred? Do you want me to burn in hell? I can't lie to Alfred, especially as he always knows and calls me on 'fibbing'. I feel like a twelve year old who claims he didn't stay up after lights out the night before when he's groggy the next afternoon. It's awful. Besides, I like the action, like seeing it play out. It's just that the singing is so damned interminable. Clark knows what I mean, right?" The entreaty was honest as opposed to his early plea for Clark to praise _The Breakfast Club_.

"Well," Clark deliberated, "I hate to say this- and, Lex, please don't take this to mean that I'm a convert to your opera love- but I'm liking it."

Bruce looked wounded, "Et tu Clark?"

"No, not really. It's not the slow torture I was expecting that's all." He pointed to the small screen just below the banister that had been flashing with subtitles, "They translate it for you and everything."

When the play recommenced Clark was sitting farther forward in his seat. He felt eyes on him and turned to see that Lex was watching him and not the stage. "What?" he mouthed.

Lex shook his head and reached out to take Clark's hand instead.

As the house lights came up and the audience surged to their feet Clark said, "So that was good."

"Maybe I just don't get it. The music… I like the Entra'cte at the start of act four but the rest of it, eh." lamented Bruce. They walked down to the lobby talking and laughing and at the foot of the stairs Bruce said, "Let's say goodbye here instead of in the mad scram of people." He nodded towards the main body of the lobby which was packed with exiting theater goers.

Without a word Lex pulled him into a hug and said, "I'll try to get out to you soon, any deals come up on the east coast and I'm there." Bruce laughed. "Seriously," said Lex.

Separating himself from his friend Bruce said to Clark, "It was great to finally meet you. If you ever head out to Gotham let me know."

"Yeah, it was good to meet you, put a face to all the stories."

"Don't believe all the stories. Alex and I usually ended up in a lot more trouble than the events truly merited so over the years Alex has changed the events to fit the penalty." Bruce gave Clark a crooked smile and then turned and left.

As they walked to the parking lot Clark said, "You once told me that friendship was a fairytale. But Bruce is your friend."

"Yeah well… some little girls marry princes. Real friendship…" he shrugged. The valet saw them coming and ran to get the Lamborghini. "It's rare it's not nonexistent."

As they settled back into the Lamborghini Lex took the roof off and held out a hand, "Pop me."

Clark went into the glove compartment to get a couple of the gold leaf lollypops out, "When did you develop a sweet tooth?"

"When candy started taking itself so seriously it became a joke." Lex pulled off the cellophane and placed the sweet between his lips. He was silent for a while and then he asked, "When did I tell you that friendship wasn't real?"

Feeling awkward Clark twirled the lollypop in his hand and said, "Just before shooting me actually… you also said that you knew I'd been keeping secrets you just didn't realize they were so 'good'."

Lex nodded and said, "I'm sorry."

"You didn't mean it. I mean, Rickman must have talked you into being mad enough to kill me."

"I don't know, but it doesn't matter. Whether or not I was responsible as the origin of the words I'm still sorry you had to hear it. The fact is, it is a good secret, you're wonderful and you have all these amazing special abilities to help you be more an efficiently great man. A bad secret is murder, malicious acts, deception-"

"Lex, I _have_ deceived you."

"Not out of spite. You had reasons, good reasons. I shot you, and whether or not I was in control, I hurt you."

"It only bruised."

"I'm not talking about physical pain. And it's true, I knew you had secrets and I did resent you for not telling me, but I didn't have any idea of the scope. I didn't understand why it was so important. And I'm sorry for that too. I'm awed that you told me at all."

They slipped into a comfortable silence and as they pulled up fifteen minutes later at Lex's building Lex said, "I can't wait to get out of this suit."

"Do you even own a pair of jeans?" countered Clark.

"Two," replied Lex, "They're Armani."

Clark laughed and they passed the Lamborghini off to yet another valet and took the private elevator up to the penthouse. As the passed the sixtieth floor Clark was still laughing and Lex said, "It's not that funny." He pulled off his tie and jacket.

The door opened with a "ting" as Clark caught his breath and said, "Not funny, just so typical." Taking a deep breath he asked, "You want Vietnamese? There still tons of leftovers."

"You're not really hungry?" asked Lex while kicking his shoes off.

"I eat, like, ten thousand calories a day. Mom says I have a superfast metabolism because my body uses so much energy…"

Clark trailed off and looked away. "Clark, you don't need to-"

"I want to. I just… I know I can trust you, it's not that. But it'll change it. This won't be the same."

"You don't know that."

Suddenly looking tired Clark said, "Just one more night like this, Lex? It has to change… when I found out I was fifteen and it changed the way I looked at myself. Even I was freaked. And I want one more night-"

"I won't let it change anything," Lex promised. Clark turned to see out the window, not wanting to have to face the man. Lex must have seen the dejected stoop of his shoulders, because he said, "There's jackfruit chè in the fridge." He passed Clark and paused to kiss the edge of his mouth. "I promise it won't matter," he said and took Clark's hand, dragging him into the kitchen.

Together they went through the fridge, pulling out stuff to eat cold. Lex untucked his shirt and sat up on the counter. He smiled, understanding the smile, Clark said, "I'm already blushing, stop smiling."

Instead Lex grabbed his face and kissed him on the mouth. "You're pretty when you blush." Clark shook his head and turned his face away. Lex reached out and turned the boy face back to him and kissed him slowly, "You're beautiful." He pulled Clark to stand between his legs and attacked his mouth. Clark's hands rested on Lex's thighs, massaging the muscles and holding himself upright. Lex slid his arms around Clark's waist and kept his boy close to him. Then he reached for a fork and had some jackfruit chè. "You almost done?" asked Lex lightly. "I want to get you to bed." There was a sudden blur and a slight wind and then Clark was back between his legs while the kitchen was clean. "You're fast."

"Bed," responded Clark. This time it was he who pulled Lex to the bedroom and striping Lex of his remaining clothes.

Lex was murmuring something that Clark couldn't quite make out, and they were both laughing, and touching, and kissing. It was perfect and everything Clark had wanted earlier in the evening. Lex's fingers danced up Clark's flanks and Clark arched against him as Lex whispered words like beautiful, handsome, sexy. "Sexy" made Clark blush and Lex said, "You are. Young, silly, and sexy."

"You're only twenty-two," replied Clark. And Lex nodded, it was true. His fingers curled into Clark's hair; they were kissing and had no time for words. Clark could feel Lex smiling against his mouth and asked "What?"

"Love having you here."

Clark said, "I love you too." Lex stroked him to completion as Clark rubbed against him. Coming with a ragged, "Lex," Clark jolted upwards, into the older man's arms. Lex moaned into his mouth and came into his hand.

Lex went for the pajamas that had been used yesterday and cleaned them both up. Clark blinked slowly at him and Lex said, "I have you, go to sleep. I have you" He kissed a line down Clark's neck. "I have you." Clark's eyes were fighting to stay open. "Go to sleep."

"Wanna stay awake," Clark said, taking a deep breath as though oxygen could stave off sleep.

"Why?"

"Because tomorrow is Sunday. And I have to tell you, and then we'll go home, and the weekend will be over."

"Clark, it'll be okay. You could tell me now and it would still be okay. Alright? I won't let whatever it is change this. So go to sleep."

Lex didn't assure him; Clark simply lost the fight and fell asleep. But even unconscious he looked worried. Lex kissed the boy's forehead and held him close for ages prior to following his lover into sleep. It felt like only moments before he opened his eyes and smelled coffee and heard Clark in the kitchen. Lex stretched and stood and walked out to the kitchen, uncaring of his nudity.

Clark was at the stove, naked, and cooking bacon. "Oh," he said disappointedly, "I was hoping you wouldn't wake up."

"Breakfast in bed?" Lex smirked, "Just say it, Clark. It can't be bad enough to warrant room service."

Clark handed him a cup of coffee, took the bacon off the heat, and inhaled deeply, "I came down the day of the meteor shower. I caused the meteors, all those deaths, your hair, all the weird shit. It's all my fault. I'm an alien. I'm from Krypton."

"What?" asked Lex slowly.

"I'm so sorry."

"No, 'what' was a poorly phrased response. I meant to ask 'what the fuck'?" Lex sounded cold.

"I can't… I was three, I didn't choose to come here or want any of this. I didn't want to tell you because it's dangerous for you to know, people could hurt you or-"

"Clark, how the hell do you think anyone could blame you for that? The meteors would have come with or without you."

"What?" Clark couldn't figure out what Lex meant.

"A meteor shower of that magnitude had to have been the detritus of a planet. That was the result of an explosion. Krypton must have exploded."

"Really?" asked Clark because he'd never thought of that.

"What did you think happened?"

"I figured that… well maybe there were too many kids, or that my people weren't like me."

"You thought you were sent away?" Lex sounded horrified.

"Well, what if I wasn't normal even there? What if I wasn't right?"

Shaking his head angrily Lex said, "No. Whether or not you were like everyone else that wasn't what happened. There was a blast. Krypton is gone. Someone wanted you to live." He ran a hand down Clark's face. "So, even if you hadn't been there we still would have been hit with the blast. It's not your fault. That's like blaming a fish on the shore for the tsunami that brought it there. You were a child; someone had the forethought to save you. You can't be blamed for any of it."

"I'm an alien." Clark was hoarse and quiet.

"I got that," Lex nodded. The disbelief must have been obvious because Lex said, "You're just you, Clark, you don't have weird tentacles, you don't secretly eat brains. No matter what powers you have, what you are _biologically_, you are still a kind, well raised, kid from Kansas." Lex took Clark's arms and pulled him towards the table. Pushing him into a chair he said

"How," Clark stumbled over his words. "You knew. You knew."

"What makes you think that?" Lex had the decency to at least fake being confused.

"When I was fifteen you hit me with a car and my parents told me the truth and I nearly lost my mind. After lying to you for over a year, you act like it's nothing?" Clark shook his head.

"I had suspicions and then… with all that happened with Rachel Dunleavy, I looked into it. You were adopted two days after the shower through a company that didn't exist?" Lex smirked, "It did come to mind. I didn't know about all of your abilities, though I _did_ hit you with a car."

"You aren't mad?"

Lex studied him and then said, "Call your parents." He stood and grabbed the phone off the counter. He handed it over and Clark just held it.

"What? Are you crazy?" Clark examined Lex's face as though the other man had truly lost him mind.

"They must be scared witless that your even here. Their alien son is with the mad-scientist Luthor. Clark, you can't lie so they must have some idea what's going on here. Call them, tell them that you told me, that we're okay, and that I have no designs on dissecting you." He stood and started to dish out plates of the food Clark had been cooking.

"I can't," Clark said.

"Why not?"

"I'm naked, Lex."

"They can't see you, Clark."

"Let me put on pants." He stood and then blurred out of the room returning only moments later as Lex laughed. Clark smiled as he stopped and came into focus, "I needed to hear that noise."

"They love you, they must be frightened, and you haven't done anything wrong. Call them." There were pancakes, bacon, and omelets and Lex poured them juice while Clark steeled his nerve, sat down, and dialed home.

Lex pulled out utensils as Clark said, "Hi, Mom."

Her voice bubbled into his ear, never failing to make him feel more at ease, "Clark, how are you? How was the opera? What time are you coming home?"

"It's was great. We went out to dinner with Lex's friend Bruce who was really cool. And the play was amazing. We'll be home later."

"Clark, is everything okay? You sound upset."

"No, everything's fine. I just -I told Lex- and he thought I should tell you. Because he said that you would be worried and that I should just tell you." Lex leaned over him to place a plate in front of Clark.

"Told him what exactly?" Martha's words were slow as though she were wishing that she misunderstood.

"The truth."

"Clark," one word had never been spoken with so much longing. Clark knew his mom wanted him at home so she could hug him, and shout at him, and hug him some more.

"I couldn't lie anymore, not after that Dunleavy woman nearly killed him. I wanted him to know the truth."

"Baby-"

"I trust Lex and I know he's strong enough to handle it. He's not going to hurt me."

"I know, honey, I know it's just… it's frightening, he's your friend but it's still frightening, this isn't like Pete knowing."

"Mom, you're right. It isn't like that. You know why I had to tell Lex." The tone was so earnest Lex stopped pretending to care about food and instead crouched down in front of his lover. He took hold of Clark's free hand and just looked him in the eye. He could only hear what Clark was saying. But even without knowing or hearing what Martha would say Lex waited for the response.

"I know," Martha agreed.

"Are you mad?" asked Clark softly.

"No, of course not. You're dad won't be either but we do need to talk about this, Clark."

"I know, Lex and I are about to have breakfast but I can run home." He could hear his mother's shaky breath. "He knows, Mom, I couldn't do it."

In his mind's eye Clark could see her nod, "It's alright, Clark, I understand. We never meant to force you to lie; we wanted our son to be safe. You stay for breakfast, take your time. But I do want you to run home afterward. Can Lex come to dinner?"

"Is Dad going to shoot Lex?"

"No, I promise. He won't be mad."

Turning to Lex he asked, "Dinner?"

"Ask what I can bring," replied Lex.

"And tell him he's not allowed to bring anything. He's not an unwanted guest."

"Okay, I'll see you soon."

"Bye, Clark. Love you."

"Love you too, Mom." He hung up. He picked up his fork, dug into his breakfast, and said, "You have to come to dinner. Mom promises Dad won't shoot you."

"That's very good of her," he replied and leaned in towards Clark. The boy didn't look up from his plate. Lex pulled Clark's chair out from the table. Clark looked down at his hands and Lex asked, "Are you okay?"

"She's not mad; she said Dad wouldn't be either."

"That doesn't answer the question."

"But that's good, right?"

"Yeah. So, why won't you look at me?" asked Lex.

Clark looked up and nearly whispered, "I'm an alien, Lex, I'm a goddamn alien… it's not okay."

Lex nodded, Clark saw a muscle clench in the other boy's jaw. "You called your parents, that buys us an extra hour, I know you worked hard on this breakfast but I'd rather taste you." He picked Clark up off the chair.

"You're strong," observed Clark as Lex carried him towards the bedroom.

"I lost my hair, my asthma, and a lot of my physical weakness. I'm not saying I would be alright if you hit me with a Porsche but I can carry my boy to bed."

"Yours?" asked Clark nearly laughing as he wrapped his hands around Lex's neck. He wondered if everyone he'd ever carried who was conscious had felt foolish. Then again, most people he carried couldn't walk at the time.

"Just as I'm yours," said Lex, "for as long as you'll have me."

Clark claimed Lex's mouth and found himself dropped on the bed. "Get those pants off," said Lex as he crawled up next to Clark, attacking the drawstring.

Lex took Clark's mouth and Clark could feel the possessiveness there. It felt good. He was quickly naked and beneath Lex, moving happily against him. "Love you," gasped Clark.

Lex paused above him, "I love you too, Clark, now shush, need to worship my alien farmboy." Clark started to laugh and Lex rolled his eyes, "Lots of people would love to be worshipped by me." Instead of responding Clark pulled Lex down to kiss him. He ran his hands down Lex's back and arched against him. Lex wound his fingers into Clark's hair, massaging his scalp.

Rubbing against each other they kissed, panted, and sweat, and Clark couldn't think of anything much more sexy. Clark gasped, "Thank you."

"What?" Lex asked, short of breath, so close.

"For this, for letting it be normal."

"Clark," Lex came with a gasp. He reached down to stroke the other boy to completion. And then he brought his hand up to his mouth to lick Clark's seed away. "I really knew for a long time. I was just waiting for you to trust me. Didn't want to make you worry, or scared, or angry."

"Well then, thank you for the time to do it." He came as Lex kissed him again.

"Always welcome," replied Lex. He blinked slowly and said, "We need to shower, I can't send you home reeking." He kissed him, took Clark's hands, and went to move out of bed. "Clark, we're floating." His fingers tightened. "We're floating."

Clark looked around, realized they were three feet above the bed, and said, "Huh."

"Huh?" repeated Lex.

"This has never happened to me when I was awake. Sometimes I wake up floating after really dirty dreams but-"

"How many of your powers are sex related?" asked Lex with an amused smirk. They slowly drifted down towards the bed.

"Just two. But sometimes I break stuff 'cause, super strength and lust don't mix well."

Lex smiled as Clark's back hit the mattress and dragged him upward. "Sadly all that food you cooked has gone cold and reheated breakfast food is never as good. We'll stop at Corrinies' for breakfast. They have the world's best stuffed French toast." He turned the water on as they entered the bathroom and asked, "Can you run faster than the Lamborghini?"

"Much," said Clark.

"So you run home, and I'll follow you as quickly as possible. You call me if you need. I'll pull off the road if I'm driving, okay?" Clark nodded and then Lex pulled him under the warm spray. "Are you alright?"

Clark nodded, "I'm better than alright, Lex, I'm good." Lex reached up to run his fingers through Clark's hair and reached for the shampoo. "Lex, um," Clark paused, unsure of how to ask his question.

"I like it more than body wash. Stay still."

Clark leaned into the hands and moaned, "That feels really good. Do you do this a lot?"

Lex shook his head, he spoke softly as he said, "No, I don't shower with people. I don't like being wet, naked, and unarmed while alone, add someone else in? I used to wash Bruce's hair, in the dorm sinks. He refused to cut it yet still continued to drink until he vomited. By the end of any given weekend he'd be puking drunk with bile matted hair."

"That's disgusting."

"That's having a brother."

"Well in that case I'm really glad Rachel Dunleavy was wrong."

"It would make the impending conversation with your parents much worse."

"I can't get drunk, so you won't have to wash puke out of my hair."

"So liquor, guns, fire, is there anything that can hurt you?" Clark froze under his hands.

"Those all hurt but… as for damage…"

"You don't need to tell me."

"It could place you in danger."

"Or it could protect you." Clark thought about it for a moment.

"Kryptonite, the meteors, they hurt me. I don't know why as they're from Krypton and so am I but… The green makes me feel like I'm dying, the red makes me stupid, I lack any sort of conscience, I do whatever I want. It's awful."

"The meteorites?" repeated Lex. "I have a ton of that. I need to get rid of it. None of it has proven stable enough to be valuable in medical research. The FDA would never approve of any study that used it and the more radical studies have failed spectacularly. Can I bury it? Or is there some way to neutralize it?"

"If you heat it up really high it goes black or clear, those don't hurt me."

"What about the red? Silver? Blue?"

"I don't know how to neutralize those. They're rarer."

Lex nodded and turned off the water. He opened the shower door and reached for a white fluffy towel that he wrapped around Clark. He reached for his cell phone on the counter and called one of his many minions working on a Sunday. When the man picked up Lex said, "David, it's me. I'm sick of the medical tests with the meteors, they're failing, costly, and inefficient. I recently discovered that if you heat the rocks they changing color. I'm sick of the green, it makes me angrier every time I see them. So super heat all of it until it's clear."

Clark could hear the man splutter, "It will change the rocks properties."

"Considering that the rocks have yet to prove that they have any use maybe it will be an improvement."

"Sir, you have over a ton and a half of it."

"And I want it all super heated to clear. The projects have all been unsuccessful and I want to be rid of the reminder."

"Then consider it done," said the man.

"Call me when it's finished," replied Lex and hung up. Turning to Clark he said, "A ton and a half of it will be destroyed as soon as they can get the furnaces hot enough." Clark was in his arms so fast Lex hadn't seen him move and he was being kissed slowly and thoroughly and when Clark released him for air he asked, "What was that?"

Shaking his head Clark said, "You are amazing."

"I know," agreed Lex sarcastically. Clark rolled his eyes and Lex smiled, "Let's get dressed." Clark super speeded into clothes and then sat on the bed watching Lex. "Now you're just showing off," Lex laughed and pulled on his pants.

The drive over to the restaurant was quick and Clark found a pop station that made Lex groan, Clark bopped about in his seat. Inside they ordered a huge stack of stuffed French toast which they just worked through. The staff at the restaurant came over and said hello, touched Lex casually, referred to him as Alexander. And when Lex saw the surprised look on Clark's face he said, "My mom and I used to come here every Sunday morning; I kept coming here until I was banished to Smallville." Lex asked for the bill which failed to come.

A man came instead and sat down without asking, "Alexander, I need help with my taxes. I have a tax guy but… Do you have any time within the month?"

"Next Thursday? I'll be in for a meeting in the afternoon but I can stay for the evening."

"Excellent. I'll cook, and Alex, you know you don't have a bill." He smiled at Clark and said, "I'm Markus Corrinie."

"This is Clark Kent, we really enjoyed breakfast, as always, but Clark needs to get home."

"Of course," agreed Markus and stood. And then he stage whispered to Clark, "You know he never brings anyone here… I lie, Bruce, he's brought Bruce but no one else."

Lex sighed loudly, "Thank you, Markus, see you Thursday." Clark laughed and stood with Lex.

Outside the restaurant they walked to the car, "You nearly blushed back there," said Clark.

"I don't blush."

"I said nearly," Clark nudged against Lex's side. Looking around the area he said, "I'll run. And if nothing goes wrong I'll see you at six ish?"

Lex nodded and kissed his mouth. "See you soon." Then he was nothing but a blur and Lex smiled as he climbed into the car. He sort of wanted to race but he thought it was pointless. He still put his foot down wanting to be home as soon as possible. Fifteen minutes into the drive he heard his phone ring. He pulled over, after all he'd promised Clark he would, and answered.

"Hello?"

"Lex, I hope you aren't trying to race me. I'm home."

"I'm forty-five miles in."

Lex could practically hear Clark's eye roll. "Please don't kill yourself."

"I pulled over to answer."

"Okay, I will see you later."

"I love you, too, Clark."

"Good," said Clark and he hung up. Lex laughed and pulled back onto road going from zero to a hundred and ten in under fifteen seconds.

Martha walked into the kitchen as Clark hung up. "How was Metropolis?"

"It was good. We watched some horror movies, ate good pizza, got his apartment cleaned for spyware, had Vietnamese food, we met Bruce, the opera was amazing. So yeah, good weekend."

"Clark, are you being glib?"

"I'm not sure. What does glib mean?"

"It means funny in a superficial way; overly comfortable."

"Oh, because I skipped the whole 'told Lex I love him and that I'm an alien from Krypton' bit? No." Martha opened her mouth to argue but Clark said, "That wasn't good, Mom, it was great. I told Lex I liked him and he said wonderful and I said I was an alien and he said that he sort of already knew and that it was cool of me to tell him."

Martha nodded. "But you didn't talk to us about it."

"I knew what you would have said. Well," he paused, "I knew what Dad would have said and I didn't really want to hear it. I couldn't keep that secret from Lex any longer. I couldn't not tell him. Maybe if he'd laughed at me, or thrown me out, when I said I liked him, maybe I could have kept it from him. But even then… he's been in danger so many times because of me and at times I could have helped him if he'd known."

"Clark," Martha started slowly. Clark nodded and went to the fridge for milk. He thought about getting a glass but that seemed too formal instead he drank from the jug. "Clark!" Martha got a glass and handed it to Clark with an eye roll.

Clark watched the glass as he poured instead of looking at his mother. "Is Dad really angry?"

"No. Just worried."

"About me telling Lex or for being with a guy?"

"Your father and I have accepted everything different about you in our stride. Being gay-"

"Mom!" Clark could feel his blush rising.

"Liking Lex, is a lot more easily understood than heat vision." She started to laugh at her own words. She smiled at him. "We had the talk right?"

Clark could feel his blush getting darker. "Yes." His dad had stammered his way through telling Clark to use condoms because, even though he couldn't get sick, he could probably get someone in trouble. His mom had told him to always respect himself and his partner. Realizing that she was taking it all too well he asked, "Did you know?"

Martha smiled. "Observant parents don't miss much and when you're son is a teenaged alien you tend to pay close attention."

"Did Dad know?"

"It's why he's never really warmed to Lex. First he hits you with a car, buys you a flashy truck seemingly to get close to you, and then you fell for one of the most dangerous and powerful men in America."

"I should go talk to him, shouldn't I?"

"He's out doing your chores."

"Then I should _definitely_ go talk to him." He placed his empty milk glass in the sink before running, at human speed, into the fields. "Hi, Dad." He said reaching for a shovel next to his father's feet and started turning the soil along with his father.

"Son, what was the opera like?"

"It was so cool, they had this little screen that translated the words for you, and the people had amazing lungs."

"I went once when I was in college. They didn't translate it for you I couldn't understand any of it. I spent the whole time folding the playbill."

"That's what Bruce did. He made swans and stuff."

Jonathan laughed, "Bruce?"

"A friend of Lex's," he didn't mention that he was Bruce Wayne, Clark thought his dad might not like that. "They went to school together. We met for dinner and sat together. He was nice. A bit glib," he felt proud of his new word, "but cool." His dad nodded and they lapsed into silence. "Are you mad?"

"No… if you'd talked to me I would have told you not to tell him, and you would have been mad, and told him, and we'd be here now. I would have liked it if you'd talked to your mother and me but… we'd be here now."

Clark nodded, "But, about Lex…" he didn't know how to say it.

Jonathan swallowed and grimaced slightly, "Clark, you're my son. I want grandkids but you're an alien, that might not even be possible, and I'd rather you be happy. And this is the Midwest but it's not as though someone can beat you up. I'd be a lot happier if you just found a nice girl but you care about Lex. I'd rather it was Pete but you don't have a choice. Maybe everyone on your planet is… gay, maybe not, it doesn't matter. You're my son and I've never been anything but proud of you. As long as Lex doesn't start getting out his chemistry set I'm not going to start anything with him. You haven't-" Jonathan blushed and Clark would have laughed if he wasn't so embarrassed.

"No, I'm sixteen. I'm not really ready yet. And Lex, he's older -twenty-two- but it's important to him too, you know?"

Jonathan nodded, "Just make sure you're ready when you do." Clark nodded.

"Dad," he wanted to reassure his father that telling Lex wasn't a mistake. "When I told Lex about kryptonite he called someone and had them super heat over a ton of it he'd been using for medical research. He said that the research wasn't useful but he did it for me. He got rid of it because it hurt me."

Jonathan smiled, "Good man," he said, then looked around the fields. "I've done all the chores, let's go back to the house."

"All of them?" asked Clark, shocked.

"It's been a stressful weekend. You were off with a mad scientist."

"That's what Lex said, that's why he had me call, he said you were worried enough without keeping it from you. He said you needed to know that I'd told him and he wasn't going to do some awful experiment."

Jonathan smiled, "I get it Clark: he's not a bad guy."

They walked back to the house talking about what was wrong with the John Deere tractor. In the kitchen Martha made them a snack and discussed what they should have for dinner. Afterwards Clark went up to the fortress of solitude and did his homework. Once he was done he saw that there was only a half hour until Lex was supposed to arrive. He thought irritating his mother in the kitchen might be better than pacing alone.

Martha was making chicken and dumplings. "Clark, honey, would you make the salad?"

All of the vegetables were laid out on the counter and he started the wash the lettuce. "Chicken and dumplings is Lex's favorite."

"I know," Martha said, "I figure he must feel like he's willingly going to the Inquisition. The least I can do if give him comfort food." Clark laughed, easily and happy. "Plus, I know he's Lex Luthor, but he doesn't get much home cooking. It's all high culture cuisine at Luthor manor." She wrapped her arm around Clark's waist, stole a piece of carrot off the cutting board, and kissed his cheek. "Good boy," she said almost absently. "So what was Bruce like?"

"Cool, he is henpecked by his butler which was funny. He only went to the opera because Alfred bought him the tickets."

"Alfred? Was it Bruce Wayne?"

"How did you know?"

"Well it's no wonder that he doesn't like opera, his parents were shot outside of Gotham Opera house. He was raised by Alfred Pennyworth, his butler. He's a strange boy. I met him once at a ball in Metropolis the summer before I met your father, before his parents died, he was only about five."

"But he and Lex were roommates in highschool."

"Bruce missed a lot of school when he was a kid, gradated two years late and Lex graduated three years early. They both went to Princeton."

"Lex said he's Batman."

"Well that would explain why Batman stopped three muggings in Metropolis last night."

Clark laughed, "He told me after I told him about my abilities. Said that if I ever get into the superhero business Bruce would help me."

Martha sighed, "Heaven forbid. How long has Lex known about Bruce?"

"Three years, hasn't told anyone, he said that he knew Bruce wouldn't be mad at him for telling me."

"Well, that's a good sign. He and Bruce had a well known falling out two years ago, he wouldn't have anything to do with any Luthor Corp. deals with Wayne Industries. And Lex didn't go to the press. Although, even without the proof of his silence, Lex isn't the type to speak out."

Clark finished cutting everything and threw it into the salad bowl. There was a knock at the door and Martha laughed at the way he perked up as she called, "Come in."

Lex opened the door, still wiping his feet. "Hi, Mrs. Kent, Clark, I hope I'm not too early."

"Not at all, Lex, Clark just finished the salad, the rest needs a few more minutes."

"It all smells amazing, is that chicken and dumplings?"

"Your favorite," replied Martha.

He smiled, genuinely, and held out a bag. "I know you said not to bring anything but I couldn't resist."

"Lex," she said in rebuke but accepted the bag. Inside there were boxed tulip buds. The pictures on the box were in vibrant colors. "Wow," she said.

"I know you like tulips and these are amazing. The photos don't do them justice. We got them for the garden; some woman in Australia bred them. I saw them at a flower show in Gotham and tracked her down on the internet."

"These are beautiful, thank you."

"You're welcome, is there anything I can do to help with dinner?"

"No, grab a drink and make yourself comfortable." Lex poured himself a glass of iced tea for the fridge and straightened up as Jonathan came in.

"I hate that Deere tractor, nothing I do to the engine will get it to run and it's warranty usefully expired two days ago. Clark, I might need you to go stomp on it to show it who is boss."

"How is turning it into slag going to help?"

"It won't but we will have won. Hello, Lex," he said going to the sink to wash his hands.

"Mr. Kent," responded Lex. "It's good to see you."

"You too, Lex. Did you enjoy the opera?"

"I think poor Bruce is the only one who really suffers through it. I thought it was fantastic. They've changed the girl who played Carmen since the last time I saw it and I think it was for the best."

Clark and Lex set the table and over dinner they didn't talk about Clark's alien gayness, instead they spoke of business, the economy, who would do a good job as president, the weather, if Clark would actually like psychology which was being offered next term, and how the harvest would go. It was pleasant.

Over peaches and angel food cake Jonathan finally said, "Now, Lex, I don't need to tell you how important the secret you know is. Clark told me that you got rid of all your kryptonite."

"Yes, sir. And now that it's clear, it's some of the most faultless stone I've ever seen so I've asked to have it cut into a cheap alternative to CZs."

"And?" asked Jonathan.

"Anything that LexCorp does Luthor Corp does. My father wants me to be great but not greater than him. So he has a large store of kryptonite, anything that Luthor Corp does the rest of the industry does. When it hits the media that I've heated and cut the rock everyone else will. If Lex Luthor doesn't think a science experiment is viable people think it must not be. The best part is that the stone has faults until it is heated to clear. They can't sell it as fake emeralds, it has to be clarified to have a fiscal value. By this time next month all commercially owned green kryptonite will no longer be a problem. Everyone will think I'm a fool who is trying to save face and some money. But, small price."

"Nice," said Clark. Lex nodded, thinking that the one words pretty much summed it up.

Martha and Jonathan sat silently. Jonathan's jaw had actually dropped. Finally Martha said, "What about your research?"

"It was too volatile anyway, we'll just have to find other, safer means to reach the end goal. Clark's safety matters more to me than that. We can find other ways to fight diseases, it might be myopic of me, but Clark's health and well being are my top priority." He shrugged, as though apologizing for scrapping research on cancer and HIV in favor of Clark. As though the Kents would attack him, his shoulders slumped.

Martha stood and rounded the table. She wrapped her arms around Lex's shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. She whispered something to him, Clark didn't listen, didn't want to invade on the moment. He heard Lex's clear laughter in response and saw his mother kisses pressed into Lex's cheek. "Thank you," she said, softly but clearly audible to human ears. "You want coffee? I'm going to make a pot."

"Sure," Lex nodded and sounded shaky. "Coffee."

Clark entwined their fingers beneath the table. Lex rubbed his thumb over the back of Clark's hand and squeezed gently. Jonathan cleared his throat and asked, "Lex, how much money are you losing on this?"

Shrugging Lex said, "A million maybe, but don't worry, it's not Lex Corp money, it was out of my own pocket. This won't affect Smallville at all."

"No, Lex, I'm worried about you."

"It won't be much in the long run. I can manage. The recoup will bring it down to eight hundred thousand." He moved his head in a "so that's okay" gesture. And then his eyes widened as though he realized that he had just told a farmer who was constantly facing foreclosure that eight hundred thousand wasn't much money.

"Good," said Jonathan he accepted a cup of coffee from his wife. He smiled, "I don't want this to hurt you."

"It'll be fine," said Lex also taking a cup from Martha. "Thank you, Mrs. Kent." He released Clark's hand and took a sip. Clark thought it was cool that Lex drank black coffee. Martha left Clark's own cup half empty so that he could add a ton of milk and sugar. They slipped back into easy conversation and finally Lex said, "I should go, it's almost late and we all have early mornings. Thanks you for a lovely evening, Mr. and Mrs. Kent."

"You're always welcome here, Lex," said Jonathan standing to shake his hand. Lex stood to take the offered hand. He hugged Martha and grabbed his coat.

"I'll walk you out," said Clark and he stood and opened the door.

The car was only out by the barn and Lex said, "Wow, thanks for walking me, I would have gotten lonely, lost, and hungry."

"I just wanted you alone for a moment." Clark backed Lex up against the car and kissed him slowly. "You were really amazing tonight." He kissed him again.

"Should we really be kissing when you're parents are almost certainly looking out the window? This doesn't really scream responsible adults who should be trusted with secrets."

"They know I'm not an adult and I think they're quickly realizing you aren't either. And I think they trust that more. Kids can be read; adults have motives. Plus, the strange tulips followed by losing money to protect me? They're not going to care about driveway kisses."

"I wasn't thinking about the money," said Lex.

"I know and they know, and I don't think they really understood that before tonight. No matter how hard they tried they saw your last name before they saw you. But you just lost a ton of money, Luthors don't lose tons of money for anything. Luthors don't do people's taxes for free meals."

"Were you eating the same stuffed toast I was? You haven't had dinner there yet."

"Lex, don't be glib."

"Is that a new word?"

"I learned it today."

"Good for you." Lex leaned in to kiss Clark. He wound his fingers into Clark's hair and as they broke apart Lex said, "Come over after you finish your chores tomorrow?"

Clark nodded and kissed Lex one last time, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Lex slid into his car and pulled out of the drive. Walking back into the kitchen Clark saw that his mother was smiling while his father was furiously reading the newspaper. "Were you really looking out the window?"

"We just wanted to make sure Lex got to his car."

"He was going to get lost and die from exposure?"

"Lex lost eight hundred thousand dollars today and acted like it was pocket change." Jonathan never looked up from the paper.

"Is this a Luthors are so rich they don't even care about losing money speech?" asked Clark. "Because, I get it, but I might want to go to bed."

"No, but that's not coins, even to Lex. It really proves his mettle."

"Dad, Lex cares more about people than money he always has."

Jonathan nodded. "All kidding aside, it's getting late, I think we should all turn in." Clark nodded, kissed his mother, hugged his father, and went upstairs.

In bed he stared up at the ceiling for about an hour. Clark couldn't get comfortable. He felt himself start to float and drift until he was bumping against the glass of his window. He could see the lights of Luthor manor away in the distance. Lex was still awake and he hit the glass harder. "I get it," he muttered. "If you let me down, I'll go see him." He hit the floor with a thud and said, "Great, my alien powers want me to sneak in to see Lex." He stood and pulled on a light coat, toed on his shoes and walked, as quietly as possible, out through the house. Once outside he ran as fast as he could to Lex's and was slipping into a bed bigger than his own in only seconds. The light had been off for less than a second so he knew Lex wasn't asleep.

Lex had a gun to his head almost as quickly as Clark could have done it, if Clark used a gun, which he wouldn't. Guns are bad. Guns can kill people. Guns are only okay if you need to hunt to eat, or, like, there's a horse that needs shooting. Or old Yeller. You can shoot a rabid dog, but Clark thinks that's really sad and that they should get a cure for rabies in pets. Maybe if Lex hadn't gotten rid of his kryptonite there could have been one. "Clark? What the hell are you- I could have shot you… again." Lex pulled the gun back as though he had been burned.

"The light was on."

"You were supposed to come over after chores. Not at lights out."

"I couldn't sleep and then I floated at the window so I took the hint."

"At the window?"

"Yeah, I sort of slammed into it a few times. When I decided to come I fell."

"You're powers really are all sex related, aren't they?"

"Yeah, maybe. Can I stay here?"

"You're dad will shoot me and ground you."

"I'll get home before they're awake. Please, Lex, please?"

"You know that I can't say no to you." Lex pulled the covers up, kissed Clark chastely, wrapped an arm around his waist, and said, "Go to sleep, it's late, and I have a hostile takeover to mastermind it the morning, no funny business."

"You think I'm funny?"

"Riotous, Clark. Go to sleep."

"Love you," whispered Clark, he got comfy as Lex sort of pulled Clark on top of him. Clark almost laughed. But it felt good. Clark slept on his stomach, Lex slept on his back; together they made a snug sandwich.

Clark was asleep before Lex's mumbled, "You too, Clark."

He woke up at four forty-five, his farmboy internal clock knew it was a Monday, and left bed. He wanted to kiss Lex but knew it would wake him. Lex slept light, years of worry and paranoia taking their toll. He ran as fast as he could to the farm, slid upstairs, and was dressed before his parents stirred. He was in the kitchen eating Pop Tarts when his mother came down stairs.

She smiled and then said, "I love this old house. It makes me happy to know that so many Kents have lived here. I love the noises, the creaky stairs. How's Lex?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"You shouldn't be sleeping over there. People could get the wrong impression. Lex needs to maintain his image."

"Until a year and a half ago his image was a clubbing druggy."

"Well since he came here he's been nearly unimpeachable. And it would be awful-"

"We didn't do anything but sleep."

"Do you think the people of Smallville will believe that? You're only sixteen."

"According to the adoption papers, who knows how old I really was when you and Dad found me? Maybe I'm eighteen. Maybe I'm thirty and the ship slowed down my aging."

"Clark," his mother sounded frustrated and Clark felt bad.

"No one saw me, I made sure. I know Lex could get in trouble. I just… I started floating and my body threw me against the window until I said I'd go to Lex."

"You're blaming your powers?"

"Yeah." He finished his fourth Pop Tart.

"Did you think that maybe it was your subconscious giving you an excuse?"

"Not until you just said it like that," Clark felt defensive now. "It's not like we… y'know. We just slept."

"Clark this isn't about sex. This is about my son sleeping at his boyfriend's house on a school night."

"So weekends and holidays?" Clark laughed dryly. "I have to go feed the cattle and go to school. I'll see you later, Mom." Out in the barn he quickly fed the cattle and then led them out into one of the fields. He waved to his dad and then super speeded to school. He couldn't pay attention in class and during free period he checked his email and saw a message from Lex that just read, "You didn't say goodbye."

He responded with, "You still had a half hour to sleep. I wasn't ruining that. I'll see you at four ish."

Feeling better he went back to classes and was almost able to concentrate. In English class he rambled about emotions as a plot device and how sorrow in Tess of the D'Urbervilles is more than just the baby's name. Everyone sort of laughed and Clark took that at a good sign. Gym and math flew by and, no matter what anyone says, the small fire in the chem. lab wasn't Clark's fault. Chloe commented that he was in better spirits than he had been for weeks. He had almost forgiven her for the whole Rachel Dunleavy thing. So he laughed and said that he and Lex had had a really awesome weekend.

After school he super speeded home and through his chores and was done shortly before three thirty. He considered going to Lex's early but then he thought that Lex might need the time to actually finish up his work. So instead he went up to the fortress of solitude for a short nap. He flopped down on the couch and thought, "Just ten minutes."

When his eyes next opened he took in two facts. The sky was dark and there was an arm around his waist. He considered running, screaming, and going to Lex to be comforted until he looked down and saw the thin, long, elegant pale fingers and relaxed.

"You okay?" asked Lex.

"Better than that," he echoed Lex's words from Saturday morning. "Did I over sleep?"

"Well what time were you aiming for?"

"About four o'clock."

"Then yes, by about two hours."

"Did I scare you?"

Lex gave a half nod, "I became concerned that you had been attacked by some kryptonite charged mutant and came over."

"That sounds at least half sarcastic."

"I upped the gaiety to cover that I was two thirds serious."

"When did you get here?"

"Four thirty. I saw you here and decided to climb in with you."

"Did you sleep at all?"

"For about an hour actually. This couch is doing wonders for my back," He arched a little. "My posture is going to be fantastic tomorrow."

Clark snorted at the very idea of Lex standing straighter than he already did. He rolled over, which was difficult in respect to the couch's size, and said, "Mom told me you had a falling out with Bruce."

Understanding without any question Lex replied. "He was miserable and I couldn't understand why he did so much for the world when it hurt him so badly. I told him that he needed to readjust his priorities. I couldn't just blame the Bat because I wasn't supposed to know. But I said that if his life was making him so miserable maybe he needed to reevaluate.

"He told me to go fuck myself, that I had no vision, said I should go get wasted, screw a bimbo, and kill myself for all the difference I made in the world… it was sort of what led me to do a few choicer and stupider things that landed me in exile to Smallville.

"So I might well owe him a thank you card. But he called me just after the car accident to apologize, said he was wrong, I'm not sure he was. In a way, I think I needed someone to point it out to me what a fool I was, and I needed to do all those stupid things before I went mad. But when he called I told him I'd seen him on the news and he looked 'pretty fuckin' morose'. He laughed, said he was, but he was but that he was working on it. And after that I didn't bring it up."

"Don't worry, once I start wearing briefs over tights and you get good with the lasso we'll cheer him up."

Lex laughed and pulled Clark closer for a kiss.

"Boys?" Martha's voice called up the stairs. "Dinner's almost ready. Lex, I hope you'll stay. It's roast beef."

Lex smiled into Clark's clavicle and called back, "I'd love to, thank you, Mrs. Kent." He slid out from behind Clark with feline grace and offered his lover a hand.

Clark laughed as Lex hauled him onto his feet and said, "I'm glad it's you."

"Me too," agreed Lex.

* * *

The End... but stay tuned


	2. Pajamas in the Keys

Title: Pajamas in the Keys

Author: Azure K. Mello

Words: 3,895

Summery: Set ten years after "Bugs and Gold" Clark is slowly going mad and it all comes to a head when the press starts to question Superman's sleepwear.

Clark's age: 26

Note: This is the sequel to if you haven't read that you will miss some of the references.

Disclaimer: All things DC belong to various parties, individuals mentioned belong to themselves, other television shows and bands belong to various companies and people. No copy right infringement is intended, please don't sue.

* * *

"Lex!" He spluttered pulling ugly pants over ugly tights. He wasn't sure if he hated the Superman or the Clark Kent Daily Planet Reporter disguise most. He hated Monday mornings more than either outfit. "It's not funny!"

Nearly falling out of his desk chair Lex said, "It's a little funny, come on Clark."

"Why did you put it on the internet? Why did you sign it?"

"It's just a joke."

"No sex for," he thought about threatening days, weeks, but it would have been a lie and Clark didn't lie to Lex, not anymore, "hours. I'm not coming home for lunch."

"That's mean," Lex was pouting and Clark was carefully avoiding looking at him. "They're funny, I wanted one of them to be true."

"Yeah? And what do I do next time Superman saves someone and the press flock and ask if it's true?"

"You could laugh it off."

"Lex, the whole point of Superman and me being separate was so that I didn't have to lie. And now my options are lying or looking stupid." He grabbed his briefcase and walked to the penthouse's elevator. "See you later."

He was genuinely pissed. When Lex and he had come up with Superman it had been so simple. He wouldn't have to lie to anyone. He could be Clark and Superman without lying. He could both admit to being from Krypton and be himself. Lex had convinced him that not disclosing was not the same as lying and it had been good for a while. Lex had said that supervillains always go after superheroes but that they take turns. The Joker never went after Bruce when The Penguin was in town. If Superman was always battling Lex Luthor then no other villains would seek his attention. Villains don't like sharing so Lex, for the most part, would keep bad guys out of Metropolis because people would think it was his territory. With one less thing to worry about, Clark could just go about stopping hurricanes, muggings, and the plans he and Lex cooked up. The plans were getting more ridiculous and funny like a "death ray". Lex wanted it to be purple, Clark wanted shiny, they were going to compromise.

But now Clark was feeling fake. He wasn't Superman and he wasn't the incompetent third rate reporter. He was a great reporter but how can you report when all the news is about Superman and you're him? The only other story was Lex Luthor, and Clark was married to the man. He was feeling more like a loser and a fraud and before this he'd been about to ask Lex to take him some place far away where he could just be himself. He could commute to Metropolis for Supe's day job and live some place nice with a weekly column or something. Now this. It just wasn't his week.

His cell phone rang and he picked up with a, "Clark Kent speaking."

"It's me," said Bruce.

"I hate being Superman."

"Clark? Where are you?"

"I'm in our private elevator. Don't worry, I'm not stupid. How do you cope?"

"You mean because I'm neither Bruce Wayne Moron Sex Fiend nor Batman? I unwind by watching TV with Albert and complaining about having really cold feet."

"You're getting married?"

"No, I meant literally. No matter what I spend on the heating bill my feet always get ice cold. Look, that girl, Chloe, who was at your dinner party the other night. She's in Gotham, right?"

"She works for _The Gotham Centurion_. Why?"

"She's pretty, she likes eighties movies, she sort of told me off, and she thinks I'm funny."

"Wait, is she gonna…"

"No, Clark, I wouldn't ask you to set me up with your hot childhood friend if I was just looking for someone attractive to have on my arm for a night. I want to take her out to dinner. Do you want to ask her before giving me her number?"

"Bruce, if she wants to say no she'll say no, this isn't high school, you don't need a wing man." Bruce laughed and Clark rattled off the number as the elevator doors opened. "I have to go, now. Us plebs need to work for our money."

"Bring home the bacon, boy." They hung up, both laughing. Clark walked the twelve city blocks at a brisk but human speed and arrived only ten minutes late.

The Chief called him in almost instantly. "Kent!"

Clark rolled his eyes at Lois but marched quickly across the office to the office. He shut the door behind himself and Perry dropped the anger, "Is Lex really that stupid?" Clark shrugged. "People are already buzzing about it… Now, as to the other thing-"

"I can't cover Superman."

"Why not?"

"You of all people know why not. It's unethical." He still felt like a teenager around the man. He'd been pleased when he'd heard Perry White had sobered up.

When Clark graduated at the top of his class Perry had offered him a job right off the bat. He had laughed saying he owed Clark a chance. Clark had said he might need quite flexible hours and Perry had responded, "Because you need time to fly about in a cape?" To the stunned silence he said, "Please, I'm sober now, Kent. Anyone who knew you then could see it now… If you're going to make news I don't see why you shouldn't be a reporter."

"It is not unethical. You always present nothing but facts. Why would factually reporting on Superman be unethical?"

Clark slumped in his chair, "Sir-"

"You will have to get over it at some point, Kent. He's holding you back. Is the Jerardie piece done yet? It's going to be the biggest scandal this state has ever seen. I can't believe you got the exclusive. How did you even find out about it?"

"Informant of mine. Then it was just digging through paper work, finding facts. It's all fact checked to death, it cannot be denied. He's raped five women, spent eight million dollars of tax money on drugs and several hot air balloons, and while lobbying against flexible immigration laws he had fifteen illegal immigrants (with papers he himself falsified) on his private staff. There are no quotes because I didn't want this to get out."

"I thought Superman avoided politics; he said he has to be impartial."

"He is. But I pay taxes, work, was educated, and grew up in this state. I vote in every election. And as a citizen of this community I think we, the people, have the right to know what our governor (the most popular is thirty years) is doing while in office."

"Well, that's fantastic. Wonderful, we'll run it tomorrow. But, Kent, next time there's a Superman issue you have to cover it." Clark opened his mouth to argue and Perry said, "Cover it or I fire you. You need to do this, Clark, every time he's in the news you're a little more detached. You don't cover it and I fire you. I'll give you a great recommendation, and anyone will want you once tomorrow's paper hits. You are breaking the best story in Kansas history. But you're fired if you don't cover Superman."

Midmorning he heard a woman screaming. And left work, saying he would get coffee. He found the woman hanging off a roof. She'd meant to jump, changed her mind, and slipped. He swooped in and grabbed her saying, "Look, I'm going to take you to Met. General, you should talk to someone about this. Plus, you've twisted your ankle." He flew slowly, people got freaked out when he rushed. And he placed her down at the emergency room entrance. He went inside with her to met a Dr. McDonald who seemed nice. Clark wanted to ask if he was raised on a farm, if he had a cow, with a moo-moo here and a moo-moo there but he refrained.

Outside on the hospital stairs there were at least two dozen reporters Clark rolled his eyes and said, "Guys, can we move away from the entrance there are sick people and ambulances."

Everyone moved a few feet to the left and stared shouting, "Superman, is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"The latest buzz on the Chuck Facts website is that while others wear Superman pajamas you wear Chuck Norris pajamas."

It was jump time and Clark swallowed before he said, "I got my mom a computer so she would always know if I'm at some world emergency-"

"You have a mom? Superman, you're the last son of Krypton."

"Yes, that's true. But I didn't come to Earth as an adult. I have a mom who raised me and worries about me. And this way, if she's worried, she can get to the internet even if she can't reach me. And seeing a picture of me stopping a forest fire with my hands or something can convince her I'm eating more than me just saying so." Everyone laughed and Clark said, "So anyway, I really liked Walker Texas Ranger when I was a kid. She found these WTR PJ pants on the internet. They're really comfortable too. They could have been Dukes of Hazard, because she would have gotten me those too because I liked the Dukes, but she found WTR ones first. They don't actually have Chuck's face on them. But yeah, I guess, technically I wear Chuck Norris PJs."

"How did this information come to light?"

"My spouse is way too into that website."

"You're married?"

"I'm not asexual." Clark felt his blush rising and tried to remind himself that Superman did not blush.

"But it was signed Lex Luthor."

"That's just my spouse's sense of humor. Everyone knows that Mr. Luthor and I have issues so by signing it as Lex Luthor it creates an effect. Anyway, if that's all, I must be off." He didn't wait, just flew off. As he flew back towards work his cell phone rang. "Clark Kent speaking."

"You shouldn't answer like that while flying above the city. I could be anyone."

"Hey, what's up, babe?" He smiled into the speaker.

"I just saw you on the news. I liked the explanation about Martha, them Duke boys, my sense of humor, and the fact that you aren't asexual. Great press conference. You didn't look stupid. Come home for lunch?"

"I said no sex for hours."

"It's been over three hours."

"The world now knows that I wear Chuck Norris PJs because of you. No sex until after work. Bye, Lex, see you later." He hung up while laughing. The phone rang again. "Lex-"

"No, honey, it's me."

"Hi, Mom."

"You mentioned me on the news."

"I did. I figured it would make owning Chuck Norris PJs look less strange."

"Did Lex really put it on the internet?"

"Who else?"

"Oh, don't be too mad at him. Clark, you have to see why it's funny."

"I want my PJs to be private. I want my life to be private. And I'm starting to feel like I have split personalities. I want to quit my job, move to Aruba, and get a foreign correspondence position."

"Clark, are you serious?"

"Not entirely, Lex hates really hot climates. I gotta go, Mom. I'm going to quit my job. Call you later, love you." He landed on the planet roof, found his stashed clothes, and quickly redressed.

He took the elevator down to his floor and went straight to Perry White's office. He left the door open behind him. With an eyebrow raised the Chief asked, "Where's the coffee, Kent?"

"I tripped and spilled it."

"And where's my story on Superman?" Perry's look challenged him.

Clark looked away. "Superman, Sir?"

"He was half a block away from the coffee kiosk. Are you telling me you didn't even notice?"

"Well, the coffee was really hot… and on my shoe." He looked Perry in the eye and said, "Before you say it, I quit. I'll clean out my desk and you never have to see me again. You don't want a foreign correspondent, do you?"

Perry raised an eyebrow. "If you get out of the office quietly and quickly I'll give you that glowing recommendation. I'll have it to you within the day along with your last pay check."

Clark nodded, "Completely fair, Chief."

He walked to the door but Perry said, "And, Kent: congratulations on tomorrow's front page. I read the article. It's going to be taught in schools as an example of perfection."

Clark nodded and left. He went and cleared his desk out without drawing attention to himself as he finished he went to Lois with a stapler. "I gotta go, just quit, dinner Thursday night?"

"You quit?"

He smiled and held out his stapler, "To remember me?"

"Dinner?" she repeated taking the proffered office equipment.

"Thursday? We can do the usual, order in, and you can bug Lex?" She nodded. "Cool, I have to go. See you Thursday."

He walked out with his head held high and didn't put on a fake trip or fumble on his way to the elevator. This time he walked the twelve blocks at a pace that no walker could even call brisk. He got home in under five minutes and Lex was in his office. He hung up the phone and smiled. "This is earlier than lunch."

"I quit."

"I know, I'm hard to resist."

"No, yes. I mean, I quit my job."

"Was it to get home sooner?"

"I quit before I got fired. Lex-"

"Well I would understand if you did. I'm like your version of crack. And I, for one, am against rehab: give in to your drug of choice."

"Lex-"

"And your mom called. Aruba?"

"Or y'know Jamaica, Bermuda, Bahamas, Key Largo, Montego. Wherever."

"So the new rule is that if it appeared in the Beach Boy's _Kokomo_ we're allowed to move there?"

"Kind of… Lex, I'm going slowly mad trying to keep me, and Clark, and Superman separate. I mean, does Superman wear Chuck Norris PJs? Because I do, but Clark Kent the reporter is a loser with bad eyesight who can't get a Supe story and probably wears cotton long johns and Supe would sleep naked."

Lex watched him for a few moments and said, "You know they're all you, right?"

"Well two out of the three kind of suck."

"That guy on the news? The one who was talking about trying to convince his mother he eats? He's just you in a silly outfit designed to make Bruce Wayne laugh. He was talking about your mom and my sense of humor. Because he's you."

"Yeah, well he's a hassle and he never gives Clark Kent an interview. So he doesn't even make me money."

"Clark Kent the reporter? Why would he talk to him? Superman's into Lois' legs."

"Hey! I am not into Lois' legs or any other part of her."

"Oh, you used 'I', careful, I might get confused and think you're Superman."

"Lex! Don't be cute."

"There's a Lex Luthor Corp. office on Key West, and there's a huge house which I own actually on _Key Largo_. I'll call a press conference tomorrow say that I'm moving head quarters there indefinitely because I hate Superman's city. Friday morning we can do the Death Ray thing and Friday evening you can fly us down in time to watch the sunset on the private beach attached to the estate." He saw the look in Clark's eyes and looked at his watch, "It's been well over four hours, and you said 'after work' which this is because you aren't going back there." In the blink of an eye he had a lap full of Clark. He kissed his husband slowly and said, "I'm sorry I put that on the internet and added to your mental stress."

Clark let out a long sigh, "Maybe it's good, made me finally break and say what I've been needing to say for months."

"What happened to honesty?"

"Well the reporter wanted to get a chance to impress the Chief, Supe just wants his city to be safe, so I was the only one losing my mind. I just need a second to breathe."

"Well, in the Keys I hear we can perfect our chemistry and defy gravity… of course I'm always handy with a chem. set and you float out of bed once a week so it might be nothing new."

"Are you quoting Beach Boys at me?"

"A little bit."

"Take an early lunch and bring me to bed?"

Lex leaned over Clark to hit his intercom that connected him to his main office, "Mercy, I'm taking an early lunch and I need a press conference for tomorrow." He didn't wait for an affirmation just tightened his hands on Clark's ass and stood, carrying his lover easily. Into Clark's ear he whispered, "Oh I wanna take you down to Kokomo. We'll get there fast and then we'll take it slow. That's where we wanna go. Way down to Kokomo."

The next afternoon Clark headed out to get milk. He saw the crowd of press and looked down to make sure he was dressed as Clark Kent. In fact he was wearing his real clothes, neither an ill fitted cheap suit nor a monstrosity in primary colors, plus glasses. Unsure as to why they were there he walked out and gave them a half wave. They instantly crowded around him.

"Mr. Kent, is it true?"

With a strange feeling of déjà vu he asked, "Is what true? Lex and I are moving to the Keys."

"No, the article on Governor Jerardie."

"Oh, yes. Everything is true. It was fact checked thoroughly. The Planet would never publish something unsubstantiated. As you saw, we actually listed every factual source. It was a lot of digging, but once one was far enough in it is evident that the series of events occurred. We didn't publish the names of some people, the women he assaulted were kept private but they disclosed their medical records, which you can view, moreover the dates of the trials show that he was accused, settled, and moved to have the cases sealed. But yes, every statement was substantiated."

"Is it true that you left The Planet?"

"It was a mutual decision. It had nothing to do with the article. I respect and am very fond of the paper and the individuals I have worked with at the Planet. There is no bitterness in this parting." He saw the obvious follow up question and said, "The Chief wanted me to do something I didn't want to do. It's obvious that the action he wants me to take would be beneficial to both my person and the paper. It wasn't underhanded or devious. It was something I should have done and yet refused to do and am still refusing to do. Under the circumstances there was no choice: he had to fire me and I had to quit. I'm calling it a choiring. That's spelled Q.U.I.R.I.N.G, just in case you want to use it." People started laughing at the journalist humor so he continued, "It's the amalgamation of quit and fire in verb form, conjugate accordingly." He laughed too and then said, "Any other questions?"

One reporter raised his hand, the kid still had zits. "You've never become high profile but your writing is always fantastic and you have covered a lot of political and community news. Do you have suggestions for young journalists?"

Clark felt himself blush. "I'm not an expert. I can only tell you what works for me. I avoid pronouns, adverbs, and hyperbole because they lead to confusion and ridicule. Triple check your facts before handing it off to a fact checker, it's just polite. I always use titles. If I'm writing about a Clair Jena I will write 'Ms. Jena'. I know that's not a common things but I like titles; writing '26 year-old Jena blah blah blah' doesn't feel correct to me. Also, I keep myself off the page. If I was to report on a footballer in a car accident I wouldn't write 'as someone who played football throughout my high school and college years this is very personal' because I don't think it's interesting or pertinent. Readers don't care about my opinion as an ex-quarterback they want the facts. I keep my own thoughts off the page. Personally, I found the news about the governor shocking and upsetting but that's not the reporter. As a reporter I feel it is only my job to give the facts. That is not to say I wouldn't report about public reactions but it isn't my job to try and explain what those reactions should be. The public needs to reply not the person doing the reporting. The only advice I can give is that, if you're going to be 'quired' go out with a good story." People laughed again.

"The thing I've always liked about this city and its respectable publications is its discretion. Like any city we have rags like The Inquisitor. As a breed we are tenacious willing to go to great lengths to get the scoop. Yet, reporters I come into contact with are always respectful. While they might ask questions I don't want to answer they are polite. After Lex and Superman have some scuffle I get the calls. But instead of 'Do you think Lex is mad?' I am asked how I feel about the situation and what my reaction is. And while it's true that you'd most likely get the same information both ways, I've always appreciated that modesty. And it seems to be genuine integrity not just because I might hang up on you."

They laughed again and Clark smiled. "People here ask for statements, ask questions, I've never heard a journalist in this city throw insults into their questions. While we have at times recognized the public's reactions we haven't overtly brought them into the conversation. And I think the whole of respectable journalism deserves to be recognized for that. There are mud-rakers but I hope we will all stay above that. I need to go get milk and keep packing, so I guess this is 'a see you later' because when something of national interest happens in Florida I will see you there. We'll all sit outside City Hall at four in the morning waiting for the statement. And we'll be doing the same thing we've been doing for years: complaining about being cold and sending out scouts to find open coffee shops. But if we're in Key Largo, I'll bring thermoses." They laughed one final time and Clark walked away, feeling a lot better about his life.

The End


	3. Phone Chain

Title: Phone Chain

Author: Azure K. Mello

Words: 7,513

Summery: Set six years after "Pajamas in the Keys" Clark is seriously injured while on Super business.

Clark's Age : 32

Note: This is the third in a series. If you haven't read the other parts you will miss some of the references.

Disclaimer: All things DC belong to various parties, individuals mentioned belong to themselves, other television shows and bands belong to various companies and people. No copy right infringement is intended, please don't sue.

* * *

The first time Bruce opened Clark's "Superphone" he had laughed. But later he came to understand it. He even thought about doing it himself except that when someone pulled off the cowl it was obvious that he was Bruce Wayne. Clark, with or without the glasses, looked the same. It was only low level mind control that made the difference between Clark and Superman.

Upon opening the red and blue phone, a message instantly flashed up "If I am dying please call my mother and husband" and listed off their numbers. Clark had promised Martha that if anything ever happened wherein he might die she could get to him. And Lex had demanded the same thing. Bruce had questioned what would happen if Clark lost his phone. Lex had rolled his eyes as Clark had carefully explained that he didn't lose stuff.

Now the phone system had come in to use. And at ten in the morning Lex was standing in a hospital in Washington DC while Clark was in a hospital bed. Looking little, and young, and hurt. And the fucking hospital officials were keeping Lex out of the room. They said he could go in when "Supe's mom arrived" if she agreed.

Lex had shouted, "His mother is coming in a Lex Luthor Corp. Jet! Everyone knows I'm married to Clark Kent, are you going to argue with Martha Kent when she gets here? I told her to bring his adoption papers but they say her son is Clark, are you going to argue with her? Say that, as she can't prove that she's Supe's mom, she can't go in? Supe isn't real. Superman was made up by Clark and me, so he could have a real life." He argued that they should let him in. What could he do? Put Superman in a coma? Oh wait, he already was. The security had told him he wasn't helping his case.

He pointed out that the Supercell phone Superman carried had his number programmed in. His number was listed under the title of husband. He dialed the "Superphone" and when it rang, it played _You Light up My Life_. None of it had convinced them. They said that he was the evil genius Lex Luthor and Lex had went with that. "Right," he'd said. "I'm brilliant. I'm so clever that I didn't join Mensa because I'm smart enough to realize they're all asses. I've known about him since he was sixteen. Don't you think he'd be dead if I wanted him to be? Look at the records: I've destroyed over four tons of Kryptonite. The first ton and a half was destroyed the day he told me."

"Mr. Luthor, if you could just sit over there please."

Lex shook his head and went to stand by the window. A security guard and a doctor moved with him. He looked in at Clark and asked, "Can you remove the kryptonite?"

"We're going as fast as we can without a-"

Lex cut him up holding out a hand. "Radio-Electro Pulsar. I know. I did invent it." He nodded grimly and called the office and said "I need the Radio-Electro Pulsar. Now. I'm in Washington DC. Thank you." He hung up and said, "Be here in an hour." The doctor nodded and reentered Clark's room.

He opened his briefcase and pulled out a ratty pair of pajama pants and said, "Look, I know they're shamefully decrepit but they're his favorite." He didn't expect the guard to take them. "Test them, look for any poisons or whatever you need to do, just." Lex bit his lip. He didn't cry. At least, he didn't cry in front of people who didn't have the last names Kent or Wayne. "He needs his lucky pants. I know he can't wear them when he's… embedded with that crap. But if you could just get them near him." The security guard looked at the pants dubiously. "You can do whatever tests you need," Lex repeated.

"These are Walker Texas Ranger pants."

Understanding Lex said, "Why do you think the post was signed Lex Luthor?"

The guy smiled and said, "Mr. Luthor, if you swear you won't go into that room while I'm gone, I'll give these to our lab guys right now."

Lex nodded, "I can do that. I'll stay right here."

The man nodded, and left, and Lex stood, watching the window, praying Martha would get there soon. He waited, hoping that Clark would move, moan, anything to show he was alive. There were four people in white coats, pulling shards of green crystal out of Clark's skin.

The security guard came back and saw the Lex hadn't moved. "It could take a while," he said it like an apology.

"You need to be sure, that's fine. I would say that they should be gentle with them, but that makes me look suspicious. Besides, Martha's good with a needle, if the seams fall apart she can fix them while we wait for Clark to wake up."

"How long have you and he been married?"

"Ten years in two weeks time." Lex swallowed hard.

"Lex, honey." He turned at Martha's voice. And then he was being enfolded in warm, strong arms. "Why aren't you inside?"

"They won't let me, said I had to wait for you."

Another security guard came up. "Are you Superman's mother?"

Looking angry and dangerous Martha said, "No, I am Clark Kent's mother. I was always against 'Superman'. You spend years protecting a child, making sure he's okay, that people don't realize he's different, that people don't find out you have a spaceship in the storm cellar. Then he meets Batman and decides he should be a superhero too. And, as Batman's always depressed, he's going to wear underwear over tights! So he goes off to college, you sew the damn outfit, then he misses a Spanish midterm because he was off stopping a lion that got out from the zoo from eating a kid. So no, I'm not Superman's Mom." Lex wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she seemed to calm down. Shaking slightly she opened her purse and pulled out papers. "Here's, um, his adoption papers, here's um, a picture of him, his dad, and me. This is him and Lex at graduation, here's a picture of him and Lex." In that picture he was wearing the Superman costume, he was giving a thumbs up, and Lex was laughing. She pulled out a notebook and flipped through pages. "This was the plan."

Lex looked at the page he hadn't seen in years. There was a sketch of Clark in the Superman persona and one of him in a poorly fitted suit and an arrow towards a pair of glasses with exclamation points afterwards. There was also a drawing of Lex wearing chaps with a lasso over his head and the words "Lex the Lassoing Lieutenant" in bold capitals and then different handwriting that said, "No, no chaps, Clark, never. Not ever." There was a drawing of Lex in a hat that just had the caption, "Lex in a hat".

The security guards studied the contents of her purse for a few minutes and then said, "You can both go in. Sorry about the inconvenience, Mr. Luthor."

Lex said nothing, kept an arm around Martha, and went into the room. Martha rushed towards the bed but Lex held her back at the last moment. "You hold him and you could further push the shards into his skin."

Martha nodded and walked more slowly to the bed. "Clark, baby, it's me."

Lex went directly to the sink in the corner, scrubbed up and slid on gloves, and went to work on the soles of Clark's feet. "Sorry if this hurts, babe," he pulled out the shards and dropped them into a small lead container that one of the doctor's handed him.

After a beat Martha went to the sink and repeated the steps Lex had set down. They worked silently along side with the doctors. Twenty minutes later the Radio-Electro Pulsar arrived and they all stepped away from the bed.

They took the most recent batch of meteor out of the room and Lex asked, "Can your furnace get high enough to clarify this?" One doctor shook his head and Lex said, "Then get it out of the building and call… I don't know, the White House, tell them there's a lot of Kryptonite that needs to be heated." Lex tried to shrug off his anger. "Martha, do you want coffee?" She gave a non-committing head movement and Lex said, "I'll get us coffee, once the machine starts we can't be in here… coffee."

Down the hallway he found a machine and got two cups. As he came back he saw someone handing Martha the pants and she said, "Why did they take away his lucky pants?"

"I brought them and I'm evil." Lex handed her one of the cups of coffee and said, "Careful, it's really hot."

They sat next to the bed as workers set up the machine and Martha folded the pants, lifted Clark's head gently, and placed the pants beneath his pillow. Sipping their coffee silently, Lex held Martha's hand until they were asked to leave the room.

As they exited his cell phone rang. "Luthor," he answered.

"Lex?" the voice was choked. "He's on the news. He's –oh God, Lex."

"Chloe, I'm here with Martha. His cover is blown. I'll call Bruce, he can arrange a jet for you both and you'll be here inside of two hours."

"You're there? Is he going to-"

"No, he'll be okay. But it doesn't matter right now, either it leaks that Clark's Supe or it doesn't. It doesn't matter. He can get all angry at us for our indiscretion when he's on his feet and we'll call him sanctimonious and tell him that we won't do this when he learns not to be seriously wounded. What you need to do is have a glass of water, Bruce will come get you from work, go back to the Manor, pack a bag, and come here. Okay?"

"Yes."

"He'll be okay. Try to keep your husband from threatening the pilot." He hung up, dialed Bruce said, "Phone chain, get your wife and get down here."

"Is he okay?" asked Bruce.

"Not yet. I was hoping this wouldn't make it to the news."

"Too bad, it's everywhere."

"Okay, we'll see you soon."

"Alex-"

"It's okay, Martha's with me. I just… get down here."

"Soon as we can."

Turning to Martha Lex said, "Chloe and Bruce are coming. Anyone else we should call?"

"Pete and Lana and," she shuddered, "Lois."

Lex shuddered. "The Rosses are in DC aren't they?" She nodded. "Do we have to call Lois?"

"She's Clark's friend and yours too!" Martha nearly laughed.

"Fine, but if she tries to get a story out of this I will personally make sure no one finds her body. I'm sort of running out of rope so quickly I'm not even sure I'm going to know when I've reached the end of it."

Martha raised one hand to his cheek, concerned by the poorly formed metaphor, Lex's language was always precise, and said, "Why don't we wait to call them? If they don't call us before Bruce and Chloe get here then we'll call them once your boy's here."

Lex swallowed. "Is that really awful?"

"It would be a lot worse if you punched Lois in the face. Or if Pete started using your last name. And Chloe will keep them both in line. We'll call Lois in an hour and a half, say. That way we can have sometime with Bruce and Chloe before she gets here. And we'll call Pete and Lana twenty minutes after that. The road traffic is awful out there."

"Is it selfish?"

"No, I think it's necessary."

They stood by the window, watching the Radio-Electro Pulsar pushing the shards out of Clark's flesh. It moved eight inches an hour. It was painfully slow. It would take nine and a half hours for the machine to cover all of Clark's body. Then he would need to be turned over and have the process repeated. Lex felt like a tightly wound spring ready to pop. He wanted to be inside, helping the machine along but he knew he couldn't. Instead he stood, lowly reassuring Martha that everything would be okay. The process would be over by six AM.

After about an hour she said, "When did you last eat?"

"Are you hungry? I'm sure I could order you something."

"No, Lex, you're shaking and clammy."

"Oh, um, yesterday, I was eating dinner and talking to Clark as he flew over to China."

"Lex, you need to eat something."

"I'm fine."

"Lex, it won't be any use to him when you faint."

"If I order sandwiches will you eat too?"

"Sure, I'll eat with you."

He nodded and phoned a place he knew and ordered enough sandwiches and salad to feed an army because he assumed people might be hungry. Afterwards he just stood silently, barely blinking, watching the machine's slow progression. He ate a sandwich that Martha handed him automatically and without tasting it. It could have been only moments or whole hours later when he heard the strong but gentle voice saying, "Alex? Are you okay?"

He shook his head and as he turned he was caught by strong, familiar arms. He could hear Chloe, Bruce, and Martha talking somewhere distantly but he allowed himself, if only for a few seconds, to be separated completely. He concentrated on Bruce's scent, the smell that had helped him after Julian and being sent away, kept him sane at his mother's funeral, kept him grounded throughout much of his teenaged years.

And finally, when he felt ready to emerge from the safety, he lifted his head and said, "It's good to have you here. Clark will be pleased to see you once he's awake."

Bruce didn't move to release him and Lex didn't move to be let go. "What happened?" asked Chloe.

Lex shook his head, "He was in China for some 'World Leader's Summit' and then I got a call and told he'd been admitted here. He's encrusted with green K. Nobody here has been helpful. He was found like it apparently, and they brought him here."

Bruce nodded, "Have you eaten anything?" Lex nodded, pointing vaguely towards the sandwiches. "How long have you been here?"

Lex looked in askance at Martha who said, "I've been here six, so Lex has been here seven hours."

"The machine's been going about five and a half hours. Once it's done he might be fine. He might be awake and okay."

"If he isn't it just means he has blood poisoning. They can put him on dialysis. He'll be okay." Bruce reached into his bag and pulled out a small lead box, "I have his dancing pendent, in case his skin goes Kryptonian on us." Lex nodded but Martha voiced a question he didn't quite catch and he heard Bruce explain, "Well, you know Clark can't dance? It's a blue K. pendent he used to wear when we went clubbing so that if he stepped on someone's foot, the foot in question wouldn't be liquidized."

He heard Martha's laugh at the mention of Clark's musical ineptness. Martha told Chloe that Lois was on her way and that she'd just called Pete. Lex had been too caught up in watching Clark to notice any of that. Bruce asked him softly, "Alex, are you alright?"

"No," he replied softly. "I don't want him to 'be okay,' I don't want to have to wait on this, or maybe dialysis. I want him to be standing here with us. I want to be at home with him, ready to leave to go fly to Kansa to spend our Friday night with Martha. I've been waiting for this day for sixteen years and I just want it to be done, and over, and a horrible memory."

Bruce nodded. He pulled Lex over to a window that looked out over the street. There were thousands of people standing there, outside, waiting and Bruce said, "Look, he never disappoints a crowd. We all want him already recovered, or better yet, never hurt. It sucks Alex, it sucks that you have to wait through this but don't be scared. He's going to be okay. He has his whole family, and people all over the Earth rooting for him. Clark will wake up and just be embarrassed and apologetic that he scared us." Lex nodded mutely and Bruce said, "I'm not placating you, Alex, I know he's going to be fine. It might take days, possibly weeks, but he's going to be back to himself soon enough. And then maybe he'll give this up, have grown out of it. He'll leave JLA and be safe with you. Maybe he'll double his Supe efforts, who knows? But he will be fine."

"JLA? You mean the Super Awesome Friends League of the United States of Justice?" replied Lex.

"That too," agreed Bruce with a small smile. Senator Pete Ross and his wife came into view in the streets below and Lex groaned. "Be nice, he's Clark's friend."

"I'm always nice," Lex said but he sounded petulant even to himself. He enjoyed watching Pete and Lana fight through the crowd. Pete looked like an adult, even from a distance. It seemed odd to Lex. He supposed being thirty-two could sit like adulthood on some men's shoulders. Clark was still a kid who laughed inappropriately, ate with his elbows on the table, whined about having to get up in the morning. Just a kid who looked small and vulnerable, at six feet four, when naked on a white sterile bed and covered in the most dangerous substance possible.

Lex lapsed into silence then, watched Clark, accepted Pete's hand shake mutely when the Rosses were admitted. Later Lois came in, chatting, filling them in on what the news said, asking after Clark. She was touching Lex's shoulder and he understood that it was meant to be comforting but he didn't much like the feeling. He didn't like being touched by most people. He liked Lois, trusted her with Clark, but with his own body? No. Before he could say anything he heard Chloe speak, drawing her cousin away from her tactile assault on Lex's person.

He ate a second sandwich when Martha pressed him too, but otherwise, he just stood watching the machine's progression. He waited out the hours, knew that people were talking around him, that he was failing at being host or whatever, but couldn't talk to them. He heard the machine click off and was in the door before the doctors. He gently placed his hand on Clark's chest, feeling the beat of his heart. Then he reached for a sterile cloth and gently wiped sweat and grime from the soft skin. He wanted to wash away the remnants of meteor even though he knew that Clark's back was still full of the rock. Speaking softly, he told Clark that he was okay, that he was breathing on his own, that he would come out of this once his body got over the shock. He felt Martha's hand on his arm and heard her telling him that they needed to leave, that the doctors were ready to turn Clark over and start the machine again.

Lex had not even realized the others had entered the room. He allowed Martha to lead him out even though he wanted to stay by Clark's side. He saw the doctors and aids lifting Clark and placing him on his stomach and he wanted to tell them to be careful even though he could already see that they were painstaking. "Lex, you've been here nearly thirteen hours," Martha started and Lex interrupted.

"I'm not leaving. You've been here twelve."

"No," Martha agreed, "But maybe you should sit down." He allowed himself to be pushed into a seat but then scooted it over to the window.

"If today was normal," Lex said, looking to Martha, "Clark and I would be leaving the farm right now. You'd be going to bed, and Clark and I would be somewhere over America."

A doctor came out of nowhere and introduced himself as the head of neurology. He told them that the rest of the patients on the wing had been relocated to give "Mr. Kent" privacy. He offered them the use of the rooms and beds, told them to make themselves at home that there was no question of visiting hours. He left assuring them that the best doctors in the capital were all watching Clark. After several more hours Lex found himself being pushed into bed by Bruce who was assuring him that he would personally wake Lex if there was any change in Clark's condition. Lex allowed himself to be put to bed. He shut his eyes and felt himself being shaken awake.

"How long was I out?" He asked.

Bruce, who clearly had yet to sleep, said, "The machine just turned off. He's still out. I thought you'd want to see him."

Lex nodded, stood, walked through the hall in his sweats, and fell into one of the chairs next to Clark's bed. He ran a hand over Clark's face and kissed his cheek, "Hold in there," he whispered, entwined their fingers, and allowed his head to droop onto the bed. He woke later as Bruce was placing Clark's blue kryptonite necklace on the boy. Clark was wearing his pajama pants and Lex could almost believe that they were at Wayne manor, waking up after dancing, hung over with Bruce bringing them glasses of water.

"Martha is awake. Lois and she went to the cafeteria. The doctors want to start cleaning his blood. Martha said it would be okay."

Lex nodded. "How long will it take?"

"To clean it twice? About six hours."

"Will he be awake then?"

"They aren't sure."

Lex squeezed Clark's hand gently and didn't speak. The four women and Pete came in. Pete handed him a cup of coffee, which Lex took gratefully, with no little surprise. He wondered if the man had spat in it. He drank it anyway as doctors hooked Clark up to the dialysis machine. The machine made a whirling noise. Lex had seen Clark's blood in the past, it was red, human, smelled like the ocean instead of like pennies, but human none the less. Now the blood looked muddy, as though green paint had been thrown into red.

Lex stood calmly, but then rushed from the room. He made it as far as the outer trashcan before he started to vomit. Chloe rushed to him, "Lex!"

"That's not the color of his blood."

"You've seen his blood?" asked one doctor.

"There were sun spots, he cut his hand when slicing an orange. It should be red, looks human."

"That was exposed to air, this is deoxygenated."

"So expose it to air, it's not right." Martha brought him a glass of water. He sipped slowly and spat out the first few mouthfuls. "It should smell of seafood that's been left out in the sun."

One of the doctors reached for a hypodermic and drew a small amount of blood from a vein. He squirted it onto a slide and before the man could speak Lex warned, "You even think of looking at it under a microscope and we're done here." The blood was still brown and Lex reached for it, smelling it, it smelled of lemon. It wasn't pleasant. It was meant to be basic not acidic. It was wrong. "He needs a saline drip."

The noise reached them before they saw the chopper outside the window. The head of neurology came back into the room and was shouting to have the blinds shut but it was too late. They were all transfixed, staring at the helicopter. Lex looked away, knowing they were already screwed. He washed the blood down the sink as they shut the curtains. "How long before the midmorning papers go to print?"

"About a two hours, eight AM, on the stand by nine forty-five," replied Lois and Chloe at the same time.

"But that was a CNN helicopter," said Bruce, "I'm sure it was live TV."

Turning to the doctors Lex asked, "How long will it take to fully clean his blood?"

"About twelve hours," said the head, he looked embarrassed.

"It's not your fault," said Lex. "The minute it's daylight you need to open the curtains. He needs sun to heal... I hate the winter." He considered their options. "We have twelve hours to do damage control. I'm going to admit to the lies, there's no way to cover that. But, Chloe and Lois: you're press and you've both written on Superman, this could land you in hot water. Pete and Lana, you've never made a single Superman comment so all you did was not disclose. Bruce, Martha, everyone needs to consider what they want to do." He sniffed, "I'll call a press conference about an hour after the midmorning papers hit the stands. Get some sleep, talk to me in about three hours." He slipped his hand back into Clark's and rested his head on the bed.

The next time Lex woke up he was alone with Clark. There was a vague light coming underneath the curtain. He moved to open the shades, pale morning filtered into the room and over Clark's form. He studied his boy and said, "Clark, please wake up. If only for a moment. I need you, baby." He sat back down, reclaimed the hand and said, "How am I supposed to be a Luthor and do a press conference when I don't know if you're alright? Please."

The fingers in his hand twitched and Clark croaked, "Lex, don't cry."

Lex hit the call button next to Clark's bed, "Baby, you okay?"

"Lex, I was filled shrapnel and my blood feels like poison. There's still kryptonite in me."

"That's why they're cleaning your blood," Lex replied as Martha and a doctor rushed in.

"No, Lex," Clark hand was weak and shaky but he picked up Lex's and led it to the back of his head where there was a bump. "There's a piece in my skull."

"What happened?" asked Lex.

"A man was shouting at me in Mandarin, and my Mandarin sucks. He was angry and then he said he was giving me a huge jade vase. I couldn't figure it out. He was so angry and then he was giving me a present. My Mandarin sucks. And it didn't feel weird when they brought it in; didn't hurt. And then it exploded and everywhere just hurt."

"Thin layer of lead, I bet. How did you wake up just now?"

"I think it's Kryptonian, I think it's like a healing coma. But I heard you and you sounded… I'm okay. I think once they get this shard out of me and finish cleaning my blood I'll be alright. I might need a few days on the beach." He leaned forward and kissed Lex almost sleepily and then passed back out.

Lex smiled, running his fingers through Clark's hair again. He felt the protrusion of the shard and pushed his bangs away. "The beach," he agreed. He felt the presence behind him and said, "Can you x-ray his skull? There's a shard in his head." He stood, straightened his shoulders, and turned. Seeing Martha, his shoulders fell and he said, "I didn't know you were-"

"Did I miss anything?"

"He said it hurt, but that he was okay. He told me not to cry, he's okay. I didn't… If I thought he would wake up I would have come and got you." Lab tecs came in and took Clark's bed out of the room.

"How did you?" she asked trailing off.

"I just said I needed him, I asked him to wake up for me." He shook his head and said, "Have you considered what you want me to say for you at the press conference?"

"He's my boy, I won't disclaim him, Lex. And I'm not leaving you in front of all those people who are going to be angry. I'm going with you." She squeezed his arm and he accepted it as a fact. "Lois and Chloe said they won't back down, no one is hiding from this."

"There's a car coming in," he looked at his watch. "A half hour. We should get dressed, coffee, whatever… my suit is gross."

"Oh, Lex."

"We have to call the press, say we're all big fat liars and I'm going to be in yesterday's suit." Pete came in carrying two cups of coffee that he handed off. "Pete, you keep giving me coffee. Are you spitting in it?"

Pete laughed sadly and said, "Clark's in a coma. Plus, I think we might be too old for it."

"That's comforting." Lex smiled. "Have we got the papers?"

"Yes," replied Lois. She threw the papers on the table. "It's bad," she warned.

The headlines and photos said it all. Some accused Lex of plotting. Others outright used the word "lie". The Planet had the photo but said that it was good to see so many people at Superman's bedside.

Lex studied them for a moment and said, "No worse than expected. Time to get dressed." He went to the room where he had first slept and changed into a clean shirt, boxers, yesterday's suit. He washed his face and downed his coffee.

He met Martha out in the hall. She looked immaculate and like a mother goddess as always. He thought that if anything could save him from the anger of the masses it would be the image of Martha Kent. She took his arm gently and they moved through the hospital as a solid front. The car ride was silent but his hand remained in hers the whole time. Even as they stepped out onto the street and into the Lex Luthor Corp. D.C. building she kept a gentle hold on his hand.

In the main conference room hundreds of reporters were milling about. Lex gave them a vague wave, took a bottle of water, and went up to the stage. "Good morning. So you all know why we're here. CNN can't keep their noses out of other people's business. They can't even give Superman privacy. You've all seen the pictures. They clearly show Mrs. Kent, Lois Lane, the Rosses, the Waynes, and me standing around Superman's bed. There have been some accusations that I'm trying to kill Superman. Others have said that Superman without a shirt looks a lot like my husband Clark Kent. In fact, he doesn't look like him, but is identical." He took a sip of water.

"You really have very few options here. Either I'm very evil and inscrutable so I got into Superman's room, Superman and Clark are twins, or I'm married to Superman. And then there's the next set of options either I'm a fool who didn't realize or I protected him for as long as possible.

"Clark Kent's family, friends, and I discussed this. He's unconscious but we, as his family, have decided to tell the truth. There's no such person as Superman. Superman is what Clark Kent is capable of not who he is. Superman was an invention devised by Clark and myself to allow him to lead his life and help people. Clark chose 'Superman' because he liked Nietzsche and thought it was funny to be self proclaimed as super.

"The idea of Lex Luthor as an adversary is another invention. If Superman had one … nemesis others wouldn't try to hurt him. We make it look like we're fighting but he's always safe. He was eighteen when he started this. He was a kid. He needed protection. I set myself up as his enemy because it separated Clark and Superman even more.

"His family has never wanted anything but Clark's safety and anonymity. That was taken away by a helicopter. The only thing left is to ask you to please, not press him on this. Chloe Sullivan, Mrs. Wayne that is, and Lois Lane have been close to Clark for years. Chloe, the Rosses, and Clark grew up together. The two reporters covered for Clark. Because, while they are good, insightful, thorough journalists, they are better friends.

"He wanted to help people and we wanted Clark safe. This was the compromise. He compromised by wearing a stupid outfit and looking incompetent as a reporter. To us, to me, he's just Clark. Our Clark who makes us laugh, and is good, and kind. You may be angry, hurt, but Clark is unconscious and wounded. If you could keep yourself from crucifying him in words until he's up and about that would be incredibly kind of you." He took a long sip of water and said, "I can answer a few questions."

He waited for the angry shouts but instead heard the gentle, "Mr. Luthor?" from somewhere in the center of the audience.

"Yes." He recognized the man, he reported for a paper in Metropolis.

"How's your husband doing?"

Lex smiled, gently, feeling his mask slip slightly. "He's going to be alright. They're cleaning his blood. There's a shard of the rock in his skull that the doctors are removing. He woke up for a few moments this morning. He thinks he's in a quote Kryptonian healing coma. If they get him free of the stone traces he'll be fine in a few hours."

"What exactly happened?"

"Well, as the world knows, he went to China to help out at a summit. Apparently someone was shouting at him in Mandarin and his Mandarin isn't very good and then there was a gift of an exploding 'jade' vase that wasn't jade at all."

"His Mandarin is awful," Martha injected.

"True," agreed Lex. "Not as bad as his French though, his French is atrocious."

"How were you contacted?"

"Clark carries a phone that tells people to call us if he looks like he's in real trouble. He'd been unconscious for a very long time before we arrived. Anyway, we need to get back. Thank you for your time. Have a good day." He took Martha's hand as they exited the rear. "Let's stop and pick up Danishes and good coffee." The limo stopped at a drive through Dunkin' Doughnuts and still got them back to the hospital in under a half hour.

They carried the coffee, doughnuts, and pastries and Lex was calling, "Morning, all. How's our boy doing?" There was an impromptu waiting room forming outside of Clark's room. People had pulled the most comfortable chairs they could find into a circle. Lex put the three boxes of doughnuts on the table as Martha put down the two boxes of coffee.

"He's just come out of surgery. They removed the shard and all traces of it," said Bruce.

"But they had to take him off the dialysis for the duration of the operation," added Pete.

"He'll be back in a moment," Lois finished as she reached for a Boston crème. "We saw the press conference. Good job." Lex rolled his eyes. "So are you and Clark going to move?"

"Why? Do you want an exclusive?" asked Lex. Lois, who'd been leaning in towards him pushed herself back into her seat.

"Lex!" Martha admonished.

"Sorry, I'm sorry, Lois. That was uncalled for and mean. I should not be taking this out on you."

"It's okay, Lex. Are we still on for Thursday?"

"Of course. We're always on for Thursday. Though, if Clark's not awake, it's just going to be you and me sniping at each other over Chinese take out."

"Don't worry," Clark said as he came around the corner in his hospital bed, "I'm awake."

"Clark!" Martha was over like a shot, pulling him close. "Oh, baby, I was so worried. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little shaky still. I'm sorry. I think I just need to get some sunshine." He held her tightly, stroking her hair.

"But," said the doctor, "we need to keep him here until he's finished a round of dialysis. Three hours, tops."

"I want to go home." Clark pulled back from his mother.

"Clark, listen to the doctor," Lex stood, trying to act nonchalant but he was shaking. "We'll pull the bed right up to the window. We can play Risk!"

"No, not Risk! you get competitive. LIFE or Clue! whichever." Clark gave a half pout at the situation but was still conceding.

Chloe stood up, "Lois, Pete, Lana and I will go scavenge up a game from the children's ward."

Watching them go Bruce said, "Always off on a search. If they find LIFE I want the beige car."

"Fine with me, I want blue, if it's Monopoly I want the iron," said Clark, there was a slight croak to his voice.

"Dibs on the white," added Lex. "We might need teams."

"Is this really what we're talking about?" asked Martha. As they pulled Clark's bed to the window and hooked up the dialysis machine.

"Right," Lex agreed. "CNN had a chopper come by; they took pictures of all of us in here. I held a press conference, had to come clean. The press knows. There's a lot of damage; they haven't responded yet… You might want to write book, could stop questions."

Clark blinked slowly. "I don't want to write it right now, I still want the blue car… And a whole week on the beach. And can I have my drink when we get home?"

"I brought Tang powder; I figured you might need it. I'll be right back," Lex stood and went to find the cafeteria where he bought orange juice, Diet Coke, and a big cup. He passed Martha and Bruce who were pouring themselves cups of coffee. She smiled, Bruce waved, and he assumed that meant they were giving him a moment with Clark. Back in the room he pulled the Tang from his briefcase. He mixed the Tang and orange juice before topping it up with the Diet Coke.

Lex held out the cup and said, "For the record it's still disgusting."

"Well, for the record, I nearly died." The smile fell off Lex's face. "Lex, I didn't mean it like-"

"You're not allowed to make that joke, Clark. You're not allowed to nearly die and make any jokes at all. There's nothing funny. You genuinely, literally, nearly died."

Clark put the drink on the window sill and pulled Lex up onto the bed. "I'm sorry, Lex. It was a gift."

"Did the Trojan War teach you nothing? Greeks bearing gifts, Clark."

"He was Chinese."

"Not the point! Don't take stuff from strangers. Someone offers you something you say 'no' especially when the supposed gift is green. You should run away. Run away at your speed, top speed. Okay?"

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, you're alive." Clark leaned up and kissed him. "Love you, even when you taste of gross juice. Just try not to die on me, Clark, please, make the effort and it'll be good enough, always." Lex kissed him again as Chloe came in carrying LIFE.

The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent going to college, working, getting married, having children. Lois won. Everyone decided to go to Smallville for a few days. They called into work, begging off saying, "Well the news was right. This is a bit of a family emergency. Right, yes." No one could argue with Superman's family taking the weekend and Monday off. Clark's blood was cleaned until there was nothing but him left in it. The doctors insisted on giving Clark a full check up.

"Mr. Kent, we understand your desire for secrecy and anonymity. We will destroy all of your medical records. But we respectfully ask to give you a physical. The destruction of your records is not contingent upon your consent to an examination."

Clark started to shake his head but Martha said, "Maybe it would be a good idea, Clark."

Clark rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'm fine, but whatever."

They started with his reflexes which were too fast. They moved on to his temperature, too high. His heartbeat was too slow. His blood pressure was low. His vision was better than anyone's possibly could be.

After a half hour of this Clark said, "This is like sending a canary to a doctor. It just doesn't work. I'm fine. But I'm not human. You can't do people tests on me; I'm not people."

He picked up a leaf of blank paper. He set it on fire with his eyes, then froze it with his breath, He hovered above the floor, picked up the bed with one hand, announced that a girl on the street below was discussing how to hide a failing grade in geometry from her parents, told the doctor that he had broken his left big toe at some point because Clark could see the heal in the bone. "So are we done? I'm fine. I want to go to Kansas, spend a few days on my family farm, then go to the beach, and move on from this."

Lex pulled out clean clothes for Clark including his favorite blue tee shirt and red button down. As Clark dressed Lex said, "We're going to take the corporation jet. I don't want you flying cross country as the sun's setting after all this."

Clark shrugged and then kissed Lex again, "I'm sorry you had to deal with the press alone."

"Your mom came with me." Lex ran his hands down Clark's red cloth covered arms. "There are press out there now. Do you want to skip out the back?"

"No," Clark breathed in, pushing into Lex's hands, before sitting down to tie his shoes. He pointed at his feet and said, "I want to walk out there in my sneakers and be me for once."

"Okay, the car is waiting for us so, when you're ready."

Clark stood. "I am. Let's go." The elevator ride was silent and finally Clark said, "Are we all good to do this?"

There was laughter, the nervous quiet suddenly dead. "What's the difference between a bag of dead babies and a Ferrari?" asked Pete.

"Tasteless," Chloe started as Lana elbowed him in the rib.

"What?" asked Clark wanting to cut off Chloe's rant. Clark liked dead baby jokes, just so long as they weren't graphic.

"No matter what the newspapers might say tomorrow: Lex doesn't have a bag of dead babies in the garage." There was weak laughter.

"True, I keep them in the freezer," Lex agreed. That garnered more laughter.

Feeling light headed Clark walked out into the day light and was hit with flashes of light. There were shouted questions and thousands of faces staring at them. While Clark could hear the individual questions he was slightly too surprised to answer any of them. He'd expected reporters, but not so many people. He had been too busy staring up at the sun, while in bed, to notice the huge crowd in the streets around the hospital. He started to raise his hand to wave but realized his hand was locked in Lex's. Smiling down at their entwined fingers he raised his left hand instead. Finally taking in the crowd, he waved exuberantly and shouted, "I'm really okay. Thanks, everyone!"

A stretched limo pulled up and Clark raised an eyebrow as he climbed in. "A stretched?" he asked Lex.

"All those journalists are going to follow us. I'm much rather we didn't get separated on the way to the airport. We needed to fit eight people into the back of one car. Ergo, a stretched."

Clark laughed and curled against Lex in one of the corners. "Y'know," he said, "I think this is possibly the best near death situation that could have happened."

"You don't need your cell phone now," Lex said. In some ways he was very glad the world knew. He could still protect Clark. Anybody stupid enough to want to mess with Superman probably wasn't also stupid enough to mess with Lex and vice versa.

"Then how will I talk to you when flying over the Atlantic?"

It was a good question, short of telepathy, Lex didn't have an answer.

The End


	4. Australia is for Lovers

Title: Australia is for Lovers

Author: Azure K. Mello

Words: 5,071

Summery: Set six weeks after "Phone Chain" the press finally has its word and Clark responds.

Clark's Age : 32

Note: This is the forth in a series. If you haven't read the other parts you will miss some of the references.

Disclaimer: All things DC belong to various parties, individuals mentioned belong to themselves, other television shows and bands belong to various companies and people. No copy right infringement is intended, please don't sue.

* * *

At first it all seemed to go well. There were cards of well wishing, a lack of reporters. They spent three days at the farm, hanging out and recouping. Clark did chores before the hands got there. He didn't want the hands to see him doing stuff at super speed. It was silly, the world knew he was Superman, but it felt off. He and Lex slept in the loft and it felt like he was eighteen again. It was really good. And then, Monday night, every one departed to go back to work, and the like. Clark flew, carrying Lex, over America, down to Key Largo. It was quiet and good.

They spent their days on the beach, Lex with sunscreen and a book, Clark with sunglasses and a boogie board. They celebrated their anniversary with a moonlit dinner by the waves. It all ended after two and a half weeks when a tsunami threatened Australia and the AI calculated that Clark could easily quell the waves. Lex told him to go, that he would do business calls while Clark took care of the world. With a slow kiss the holiday was over.

Clark left his costume in the closet. The world knew who he was and the joke of wearing underwear over tights was now lack luster. He flew over in the suit he'd worn to dinner. They'd eaten at a place they liked down the beach. It required a tie but not shoes. He saw the wave, just off the coast of the island and blew on it. The wall of water turned into ice and Clark considered what to do next. Using his heat vision he cut the ice into huge blocks and carried them off to various lonely locations in the sea, dropped them, and melted them with his eyes.

Once it was done he was thirsty and he flew into Sydney stopping at a small convince store. He smiled at the people in the streets who watched his descent. Sydney was twelve hours ahead of the Keys. It was just after one in the afternoon, it was a beautiful day, and the streets were packed. He headed into the store and waved to the girl behind the counter whose jaw dropped.

"You're um…" her words drifted.

"Clark Kent," he supplied. "Superman."

"Yeah," she agreed.

He grabbed a couple of bottles of Fuze Cola from the refrigerator and brought them up to the counter. He liked the soda, it had an apple juice base. Every time he was thirsty and near Australia he would stop off for a bottle. "I don't have any currency on me. Do you take credit cards?"

"You're not paying for those," she replied. Reporters came into the store. Clark could tell just from the way they carried themselves that they were journalists.

"But this is a store and I want a drink," he said not understanding why she wouldn't let him pay. "Is it because I'm not wearing shoes? See, I was in a hurry when I left the house but I could-"

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"There was," he pointed vaguely over his shoulder in the direction of the ocean, "a tsunami."

"So you stopped a tsunami and you think I'm going to let you pay for two bottles of pop?"

"Well you're not responsible for abnormal waves."

"True but you're responsible for us not being dead."

"You could get fired for giving soda away."

"I think I could get fired for making Superman pay after he saved us."

"Oh." That stopped Clark's argument and he swallowed. "Well then, thank you very much. I should go home. Thank you." He smiled at her as he walked out of the store.

The reporters followed him. He drained one of the sodas in mere seconds and placed the bottle in a recycling container. He liked recycling; it was the most passive good deed ever. He looked around and asked, "Do you guys need something?" He didn't mind speaking to the press, he'd been a reporter and knew it was hard, and that anything out of a superhero's mouth was print worthy. He had once begged Bruce for a quote on a day when Clark had a fast approaching deadline. Bruce had told him that, as Batman, a superhero needs to be aware of his sugar levels because it would be embarrassing to faint. The asinine comment let Clark get onto the front page.

He was hit with the flair of flashbulbs and questions, why was he there, what had he done. He explained about the tsunami, told them the tides might be weird, and explained how he'd gotten rid of it. They asked after his health and he told them he was fine, and really touched by how kind people had been to him.

Once he had finished he said, "Now I'm going to go home. It's late at night in America and I want to go to bed. Enjoy the rest of your gorgeous afternoon." He flew home at a leisurely pace and slid into the bedroom twenty minutes later. Lex was at his desk, ordering someone to do something over the phone. Lex smiled at him as Clark stripped.

Lex hung up and asked, "How was Australia?"

"Good, a girl gave me free soda. There's a Fuze Cola in the fridge for you. The press was nice. It was a good first job back." Lex crossed the room to kiss him slowly. "How's business?"

"Same as ever," said Lex. He ran his hands over Clark's skin. "You're so beautiful a blind man could see it."

Clark laughed, breathily. "Bed?"

It was hours later when Clark woke, alone, in bed. Lex was at his desk. "Morning, you're all over Australian news. The girl at the store got a raise for 'her sensible act'. The journalists say you're even more polite and calm when not dressed like a madman. And, apparently, Fuze Cola's stocks went up because you drink it."

"Is that good or bad?"

"I think it's strangely sweet."

Clark stretched. "Is all clear on our front?"

Lex blanched; obviously he'd been hoping to avoid the question. "No. Now that you're back in business the press is having a field day. Chloe and Lois were both blasted. People want to know why you came out of seclusion for Australia, where the suit went, why you would be married to me, what I get out of our relationship, and what your mother thinks. I honestly do believe that writing a book might shut them up."

"Chloe and Lois okay?"

"Well, the Planet ran a piece on integrity and protecting one's sources. They also did a literary postcard on how nice it is to see you back in action and questioned whether the barefoot look was in deference to the laidback culture of Australia."

"Maybe I should call the chief, do a piece."

"It would be a start." Clark reached for the phone on the desk and dialed from memory.

After a few rings White picked up, "Yes, White speaking."

"Hey, Chief, it's-"

"Kent, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Chief. Look, I was wondering if I could maybe write a piece or…"

"Whatever you like, Kent. You know I've always wanted you to cover Superman. You write well, you're Superman; you produce it and I'll publish it."

They talked for only a few moments more. Clark was focused on Lex. His husband was smiling so gently at him that Clark could barely hear the chief over his own heart beat. The smile felt like a challenge. Lex was saying he was happy; Clark knew he could make him happier. He agreed with White, vaguely listening until it was polite to hang up. Finally allowing the receiver to drop he said, "You're cruel, Lex."

Lex surged up to kiss him. "Is it cruel of me to be happy that your writing on something that held you back? Cruel to be pleased that you can finally tell the world the truth without fear? Cruel to be standing at the precipice knowing that my lover is safe? Cruel to know that I helped to protect the greatest man ever to walk the planet? To be happy that you no longer need to lie after it has crippled you? I do not think that is cruelty, Clark."

"No, it's cruel to give me bedroom eyes when I'm talking to my old boss."

"We are in a bedroom."

"That's not fair."

"You're hot, it's early in the day, and neither of us is fully dressed; I think it's entirely fair." Clark stepped back and started to strip. "Did I just win the argument?"

"The only road of argument open to me is to disavow your hotness. And that would be a lie. I have a seven hour deadline, strip."

"Do you know what you'll write about?" Lex pulled his tee shirt over his head.

"I'm going to thank the press for being so kind." He ran his hands across Lex's skin as the man snorted. "I'm serious. They've known about this for three weeks. Since your press conference they held their tongues and left us alone. I'll thank them for that."

"You've been thinking about this," Lex observed.

"I have a lot I want to say." Clark shucked off his underwear.

"You're turned on at showing off to the Chief, aren't you?"

"He always thought I was great writer and a shit journalist because I wanted to write about socio- political change and not Superman." Lex laughed. "Is that a problem?"

"No, I like that your work turns you on." Lex wrapped his legs around Clark's waist. Clark turned and moved them to the bed.

"You turn me on," He claimed Lex's mouth as they fell backwards onto the sheets. "I love you."

"Fast and dirty?" asked Lex between licking his way up Clark's neck.

"I'm on a deadline."

"I remember how it works," Lex bit his clavicle.

Fifteen minutes later Clark was showering quickly. Lex tried to climb in behind him but Clark had just given him a scornful look. "I could just shower," Lex said in reply to the look.

"Right, but you won't. You'll wash my hair, start molesting me, and I'll end up half comatose on the floor. Out." He cleaned off quickly and called, "Lex, shower's yours." He wrapped a towel around himself. Lex leaned in and started to kiss his neck. "Six hours and forty minutes, Lex."

"Will you be up for it in six hours and forty minutes?"

"Lex!"

"Fine, Mr. I Can't Think Outside of Work. You missed this, didn't you?"

"Do we have extra keyboards?"

"Yes, hall closet." Lex kissed his forehead. "Call me when you're done."

Clark dressed in a blur and went down to his office. It was rarely used. He hadn't written anything but freelance since he'd quit the Planet six years prior. He read all the articles about him, wanting to know what he was replying to prior to actually replying. It seemed logical. The articles just made him angry. He didn't want to believe that people were as small minded as the individuals who'd written about him. Moreover, he didn't like to believe that the free press would so poorly report a situation. On the up side the ones from Metropolis weren't damning, but filled with conjecture which made him sad.

In the first hour he shorted out only one keyboard. The second hour he burned out two more and thought he was back in fine form. He always typed too fast and too hard. The article went longer than he expected but he managed to get it to Lois prior to the deadline.

She line edited the piece but it was, "Clean, Clear, Clark Kent typical. It'll be printed tomorrow. It's good stuff, Kent."

"Thank you, Lois, talk to you later." He hung up and went to the kitchen.

The cook looked up, "Clark, Jacob asked me not to disturb you with lunch."

Clark sat up at the counter and said, "I was working, Mrs. Little. Can I have a toasted cheese sandwich?"

"With processed American cheese on cheap white bread."

"Sorry, yeah. I swear: I'll grow up some day and be less abhorrent to you."

She smiled, "You have no taste but that's not your fault. I suppose you also want a bowl of Campbell's tomato soup."

"I'm really sorry."

"I'm one of the top chiefs in the US, Clark."

"I know, and I really am sorry."

She smiled. He always felt like Charlotte Little saw a kid when she looked at him. He would be forgiven any number of sins because she thought he was about fifteen. "Okay, Clark, I'll have everything ready in about twenty minutes. Why don't you go jog on the beach?"

"Thanks, Mrs. Little." Clark went out and jogged down the beach. He tested the water; it was warmer than the air. It felt good. He was going to talk to Lex about getting a dog, they needed a dog. He was a mile or so up the beach when Mrs. Little called to him. He zipped back down the beach and pulled to a halt in front of her.

She stepped back, blinking. "That was odd."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"That's quite all right, I just wasn't prepared. You're late lunch is ready."

Clark ate on the back porch, enjoying the afternoon sunlight. It was perfect, sunny. His cell phone rang, "Clark Kent speaking," he said picking up.

"Are you done?" Lex Luthor does not whine. Therefore it wasn't a whiney and petulant tone.

"Lex, don't you run an international multi-trillion dollar company?"

"Is that a yes? Because, I'm already in the car. If it's a no you've missed your deadline."

"I didn't miss it, I'm done. But really, Lex, what about your company?"

"LLC takes care of itself, it's fine, I'm pulling up to our road. When did you finish?"

"Nearly an hour ago. Lex, we need to give Mrs. Little a raise."

"What did you do?"

"I made her warm up tinned soup and make a toasted cheese sandwich."

"She's the third seated chief in the US."

"I know."

Lex sighed, "Have you been into town?"

"No, why, should I?"

"No, the island is crawling with reporters. They're outside of our driveway. It's creepy. You haven't seen any?"

"I've just been on the beach, and you know our security. Attila the Hun couldn't get onto this sand."

"Good," said Lex walking out of the backdoor and kissing Clark's neck. "Attila the Hun would be an awful guest."

"Why are they here?"

"I think," said Lex sitting down and picking up Clark's crusts, "that they want a statement."

"They get one tomorrow, through the Planet. It's over five thousand words and if they have any other questions they had better stop being so damn rude."

"What did you write about for five thousand words?"

"The car accident, saving you, the weirdness of Smallville, thinking I was maybe human. I talked about Mom and Dad and home. Talked about you, Chloe, Pete, Lana, and _The Torch_. I apologized for lying, especially to my friends, thanked people for caring. I said that, when I started, I was an eighteen year old alien who'd been raised on a farm. That I didn't want to be some medical experiment. I said that without you I'd lose it, that you're amazing, that people should stop speculating because you aren't profiteering you're my husband. That it is not the job of the press to speculate but to report facts. That, if articles aren't headed as editorials, they can be considered liable. That we are not defined purely by what we are but also who we chose to associate with, how to act, who we endeavor to be. I said that I ditched the suit because it's silly and I've lost the boundaries in my life. That it might take me time to rebalance. I said that I love this planet, the only home I've known, and that I hope its people can forgive me. I said that I chose Metropolis because it was always friendly and you were accepted there more than anywhere else. And I thought if they accepted the bald, mad, strange Lex Luthor then maybe they could accept a strange, dorky, gay, alien. It was your city, that's why I took it as my own. So if it wasn't for you they wouldn't have ever had Superman."

"Why did you defend us?" asked Lex reaching out for Clark's hand.

"Because I read the papers before I started. And… the things they said about you were worse than anything you told me. And even the Metropolis ones were rife with opinions and ideas that weren't founded. It felt like we were being spat upon."

"Clark-"

"Papers said I was a long term science project, that you were gay for pay in the form of information on aliens, that you're using me. They- God, Lex, you should get them all blacklisted."

"Clark-"

"If they said that crap about me you'd make sure they were deported and never touched a pencil again. But it's different because they're attacking you? Because you're the bald freak Luthor who deserves this because of things his dead father did? No, it's not alright, Lex."

"Clark-"

"No, no, Lex. I don't care if you're used to it, or can ignore it, that you're above it. They aren't allowed to talk about you like that. I wasn't going to let it go. So I pointed out that you've known for pretty much as long as I've known you, that I was a stupid kid, that my space ship was poorly concealed in the storm cellar, that you could have hurt me at any time. I said that if you were evil that you wouldn't have wanted me as a friend, because what can a friend tell you that a battery of tests can't? I asked why no one questioned you when you were married to a second rate reporter, why it's so different if that second rate reporter is really Superman, because nothing has changed. Why would it be alright for you to be married to a loser but not to Superman? No one thought twice when I was stupid Clark Kent. But the minute there was something more to me our marriage was suddenly some nefarious plot. The only thing new here is that they know. We lied, all that fake fighting and posturing, but I was a kid when it started. And I apologized for that but pointed out that most of the world's superheroes have double lives. I said that if they don't understand and accept it I don't care. You're mine and they won't change that."

"Clark-"

"You're the most important person in my life and they need to realize that insulting you is like hurting me."

"Shut up!" Lex finally managed to get out and then he leaned over the table and kissed Clark. "We've been together for sixteen years; nothing they say will change that. Have you been swimming or just running? Because, you seem tense."

"I could go for a swim. Come with me? Out to the sandbar for a walk?"

Lex nodded and started pulling off his suit. He left his incredibly expensive clothes on the chair. He walked, naked, down the beach and at the water's edge called, "Are you going to swim in your jeans? That's going to be uncomfortable."

Clark started to strip as he walked down the beach. He left his clothes in the sand and joined Lex in the waves. Lex ducked under a wave and wiped at his head as he breached the surface. Lex shook his head and reminded Clark of his thoughts, "Do you like dogs?"

"They shed, need taking care of, all they do is eat, shit, and require attention."

"That means no puppy?"

"I didn't say that."

"But you wouldn't want one?"

"No. I don't want to take care of it. I don't want it chewing my shoes, paperwork, or stuff. I will not talk to it like it is the cutest thing on this earth: it won't be. But I won't dislike having a dog."

"Would you like a dog or just not mind one?"

"My father taught me that liking animals was a weakness."

"So that's an 'I not only like the idea of a dog but I've been denied the right to want one my whole life'?"

"If you tell Lois I will never forgive you." He swam towards the sand bar and Clark followed, laughing.

Lex was standing in the waist high water. He stood, head pointing upwards, as though he was soaking up the sun. Clark joined him and said, "You want to go tonight?"

"Where?"

"To a pound, find a dog. I don't want a pedigree pup."

"Agreed, dog's being status symbols is done. They're animals not cars. But I hate pounds."

"I'll go tomorrow. What do you want?"

"Something that doesn't bark too much, seems pleasant, calm, not too little. Little dogs are ugly, and yapping, and piss too much: they disgust me."

"Right, big, pleasant dog… what about puppies that will grow up big?"

"You really want a puppy, don't you?"

"They're cute."

"You know that they grow up to be dogs, right?"

"Yes, I want a dog. But puppies are the cute predecessors."

Lex shook his head at the foolishness and took Clark's hand in his own. They walked down the sandbar and swam in the waves, only going home when the sun started to set.

Mrs. Little made them French food that Clark couldn't pronounce but really enjoyed. They waited for the evening papers, to see what people were saying. Lex told him not to even bother to read them.

"But you'll read them," argued Clark.

"I need to know what they're saying to see if we need to take immediate action, I need to know if I need to have someone whacked."

"That's not funny."

"No it is, give it a moment to sink in. I used the word whacked in a sentence without almost any tone of irony."

"Lex, don't make jokes like that. They're small minded. But I also lied to them for years. To find out that a JLA member is actually that reporter everyone looks down upon is hard enough. Add to that the fact that you are actually a good man and not a mad genius who wants to kill me. Well, it's a shock."

"Are you saying I'm not a mad genius?"

"No, you are, you just don't want to kill me."

"No, I want you safe and happy. Right now you're only one of those things."

"Well, I'll get over being unhappy. They'll get over us lying. They just need some time."

"They need time? They find out that you're not only helping them, but trying to lead a life, and then attack you. You've given them years of your life, saved, literally, hundreds of thousands of lives, and they now get to harass you? No, they should shut up and be glad that you're happy, that you have a nice life: that you don't have to be a superhero all the time. They should be happy that you don't live in that frozen fortress. That's what needs to happen."

"They'll get there. People take a while."

"Well they shouldn't. I didn't."

"You're not people, you're Lex Luthor. You can take almost anything into your stride and simply announce that you 'need to worship you're alien farmboy'."

"You loved it."

"The worshipping yes. The lame line was still lame."

"It's still true you know, the needing to worship."

"Hardly a farmboy anymore."

"You can take the boy off the farm but you can't take the farm out of the boy." Lex leaned over to him and kissed the edge of his mouth. "It might take your mind off of the papers."

Clark leaned into the touch and said, "Only if you wake me when I'm passed out and the papers get here."

"Yes, all right."

"You swear?"

"I swear."

"Okay then."

When he woke up Lex was nudging him gently, "Clarrrrk, Cllllaaark, the papers are here."

"You read them?" he asked with a sniff.

"No, I figured we'd do this together… partially because if I read them alone I'm liable to burn the ones that piss me off and then you'll be angry."

"Thank you," Clark pulled himself upwards to kiss Lex. They sat, under the covers, reading the latest reports. There wasn't anything new being said, it was the same as that morning. But there was a picture of Clark in a bathing suit in _The Inquisitor_. They'd cropped Lex out but half his hand was still in the picture. Clearly at the time Lex had been the focus, the purpose of the photo. There was an arrow to Clark's undefined, flat stomach and a caption that read "Man of Steel or Man of Flab?"

"That's so unfair, I'm not flabby." Lex stroked down Clark's stomach, it certainly wasn't. Clark removed the hand and pulled up the sheet. "Besides, I'm an alien: I don't need to work out."

"No, you don't, you're perfect. You aren't what they expect. They look at the suit and think that 'The Man of Steel' must have abs and pecks of steel. You don't. You have a young man's sexy, perfect body. You aren't some weird body builder with a complex. Don't let the hacks at _The Inquisitor_ think any less of yourself."

"You have abs and pecks of granite." It wasn't quite a petulant whine.

"Yeah, because I spend two hours every morning working out while in conference calls. I have a complex."

"If you got really fat, or maimed, or just ugly, I'd still love you," Clark said pushing down the sheet again.

"Because you are a crazy alien."

"You would love me if I got fat, or maimed, or ugly."

"Because I'm just crazy." He kissed Clark's shoulder and climbed out of bed. "Go back to sleep. I have a couple of work calls but I'll be in soon. In the morning your article will hit the stands and we'll see what they're saying by the evening."

Clark rolled back over, hand on his stomach. It wasn't flabby. It wasn't. Lex laid his hand on top of Clark's. "Sleep," he ordered. Then he moved out of the room to his other office to make calls.

He didn't wait in the morning for the papers. Instead he flew to England, he could have gone anywhere for a dog but he wanted one that understood English. He listened to the sound of London and zeroed in on a pound. He opened the door which jangled with a bell and a man called from the back, "Give me a mo."

"Yep," Clark called back. He looked at the pictures of dogs on the wall until the man came out. Within a half hour he had a puppy and was flying home. The rest of the day was spent playing with the puppy, skimming the papers. He took the puppy into the sea, out beyond the breaker waves and let it paddle with him. He ignored the stuff all the papers said about him. He focused on Ignatius, the puppy.

He wasted all his time until the evening papers came out. And then he sped through them reading everything nasty that they said. In Metropolis they were completely silent. Outside of his city they had read his statement but treated it with scorn. After reading the responses Clark went back to the sea with Ignatius. Lex came home and waved to him from the beach. Clark swam back, holding Ignatius to his chest. He kissed Lex's mouth and leaned into him.

"Say hi to the puppy you named."

"Hi, Ignatius. Have you read the papers?"

"He's a puppy, Lex. He can't read… at least not yet."

"Cute."

"I'm thinking of asking the JLA to send someone new to Metropolis. I don't want to be an everyday superhero anymore."

"Everyday?"

"I'll do big stuff, like natural disasters, plane crashes, but no more little stuff. I'm not doing it. They're spitting on us. I want to get away from America, at least professionally. Diana might want it; she likes Metropolis."

"So what will you do?"

"Be a good dad to Ignatius?"

"You'll get bored."

"True… but I can't do this anymore, Lex. I'll figure something out."

"I thought you weren't going to let them get to you. What happened to people needing time?"

"I thought the article would make it so they understood. But, instead… Lots of the JLA people don't have a city. Let one of them have Metropolis. Natural disasters, huge atrocities, and alien threats, I'm not going to nickel and dime only to have them spit on you and me. They're at the farm, Lex. They're at my fucking farm. Kansas reporters are on my farm. I spoke to my mom; they were asking her what it's like to raise an alien. So, I was willing to have them be confused, distrustful. Not this. I'm not some celebrity; I don't want them following me or my family. I'm not someone who's lost everything and needs to make sense of it. This isn't the only thing I have. I wanted to help people and Superman is no longer the way to do that. Chloe may be losing her job. Lois is getting shit. Jimmy's being asked if the photos were staged… I'm done. Call me a press conference for tomorrow. I'm going to tell them to leave my mother alone and that I quit. People in other countries are usually nice to me. Maybe I'll stop muggers in Rome."

"It might just be the reporters. The people still love you."

"They can't attack my mom, Lex." And that was really the end of the argument.

The End


	5. Young and Beautiful

Title: Young and Beautiful

Author: Azure K. Mello

Words: 1,751

Summery: Set two years after "Australia is for Lovers" Lex starts to worry that he isn't aging.

Note: This is the fifth in a series. If you haven't read the other parts you will miss some of the references.

Clark's Age : 34

Disclaimer: All things DC belong to various parties, individuals mentioned belong to themselves, other television shows and bands belong to various companies and people. No copy right infringement is intended, please don't sue.

* * *

Diana did indeed take over Metropolis. Clark took on bigger projects. He brought relief packages that couldn't be easily transported to all over the world. Places in Africa where previously had been unreachable and had relief airdropped now received supplies from Clark's hands. He took on huge fires by himself, earth quakes, alien threats. He didn't worry about the individuals as much. The Justice League did group work and Clark covered everything while they dealt with their individual cities. And he was happier.

Lex watched his husband sleep. Every night he would lie for hours watching Clark breathe. Clark didn't have nightmares, ever. If he looked anxious when unconscious it meant he heard something happening far away. He would usually wake up, pull on shoes, and slide back into bed a half hour later saying, "I didn't mean to wake you, volcano was about to erupt, I bought the villagers about a week, told them to move. Go back to bed, baby." And then he would slide back into sleep, easily, no worrying, no tossing and turning, he would just fall asleep. Lex, who had worried for the thirty minutes Clark had been gone, would watch him. He would count the breaths, watching Clark's chest. There was no worry in Clark and he looked so young; he looked sixteen again.

But then, even when awake, Clark looked young. He didn't look to be thirty-four, early twenties at the oldest. Lex had wondered about that, he noticed in the mirror that he himself had stopped looking his age. He looked thirty, not forty. He had asked Clark about it in passing, who had asked the AI. Outside of the Chinese vase incident the day was one of the most terrifying that Lex remembered.

Clark came home from his fortress and gave Lex a tired smile, "You may not like it."

"I'm bracing myself, just tell me."

"The AI isn't just a computer, it also has the imprint of my biological mother."

"I know that."

"God, don't interrupt, Lex, please. Please, I… apparently it scanned all of humanity when it came into consciousness. It catalogued everything; it read people right down to their atoms. And, I guess, the part that was my mother worried about me, worried about me being alone. So it analyzed the people and found that I didn't need to be alone here. There were twenty-six possible _mates_ on earth for me." The word was spat with disgust.

"It calculated that, by last year, I would have met every one of the twenty-six. And when it saw that you and I were the ones left, it accepted you." He stopped, began to pace but Lex knew not to speak. "People like me live normal length lives on my planet, they're normal people, no flying, or crazy eyes, or any of the rest of it. They're normal. But on this planet, I'm going to live three times the average life span. All because of the fucking sun.

"That woman, Cassandra, she didn't see the future, Lex. She saw a future. And for me she saw my worst nightmare, being alone. Being completely alone. That's what happens if you live two hundred and fifty years: everyone you love dies. Recently, I thought maybe it wouldn't matter, that the time I could steal with you would make up for all the years alone. But it decided that things didn't need to be that way. You're not really aging anymore. It actually took a few years off. And I argued with it, Lex. I tried, but I don't know how to fix this." Clark gripped his sides, a mock hug, as though he could not expect any comfort to come from Lex and so had to provide it for himself. "'I'm sorry' doesn't even start to cover this one."

Lex stood and wrapped his arms tightly around his husband, "We can steal the years together, and it will hurt, and it will break, but we'll be together. Neither of us will ever be alone."

Almost sounding angry Clark said, "This isn't like a vampire novel! This isn't all youth and perfect immortality, you'll age at an eighth of the human rate, and you will watch everyone you love die. There won't be a Bruce or a Mercy. You'll live for two hundred and fifty years but be physically in your seventies when you die!"

"Clark, I understand, and it's awful, but… we can handle it. Together we're the stuff of legends, remember? It's true that this wasn't my fear; I just thought everyone would abandon me and I would end up totally cold. But I understand why this is your fear, and why it's not a choice either of us would make. I'll talk to Lara, if you like, see if she won't do something to make it better for both of us."

"Really?"

"It might listen to me; I'm not her son. Let me change into warm clothes, and we can go to Antarctica." Clark had kissed his mouth gently as Lex had let go of him. "No matter what, we'll be okay." Lex changed into a sweater and warm boots. As he tied his laces he felt Clark slip onto the bed, kissing his neck and stroking his arms, "Hey," he said softly leaning back.

"Thank you," said Clark.

"For what?"

"Not freaking out." He continued to kiss and stroke Lex's skin. "I'm freaking out and you're being calm."

"I'm actually getting quite excited," Lex responded as Clark's hands drifted to his lap. "Honestly, if you don't cut it out now we're not getting to the fortress today. And while I would love to stay in bed with you for the rest of the afternoon and night, it won't achieve much."

Clark slid off the bed and walked to the balcony. "You ready?"

Lex didn't much like the fortress. It was just so… alien. There was nothing recognizably earthly about it. It felt wrong and out of place. The angles didn't seem quick right and the opaque nature of the walls was unsettling. Light filtered through on unnatural frequencies. And it didn't feel like a place where Clark should be at ease. Even with all of Clark's stuff littered around it felt impersonal, like the castle had felt to Lex even when he lived there. It set his teeth on edge.

In the entrance was a huge monument to Lara and Jor El. Statues of them held up a globe of Krypton. And it was intimating as opposed to beautiful. The faces of the statue were serious and cut in harsh lines and Lex hoped the sculpture wasn't good. Because he'd seen the Polaroid of Lara, and she looked kind and soft, like a mother: not this stern creature.

"Hello, Lex Luthor," Lara El's voice came from all around him.

"AI," he responded coldly. Clark left, aware that Lex didn't want an audience.

"What a thing to call your mother-in-law."

"You aren't his mother; you're an imprint of his dead biological mother. A real mother wouldn't have put her son under this sort of stress."

"I gave him his husband for the span of his life."

"I'm not arguing with that. But a real mother would have lied through her teeth. She wouldn't have said that she made a decision, that she guided him towards possible mates and then genetically changed the man he chose. She would have told him that he and I were perfectly matched. That as he found me our essence mingled and allowed us to bond as one. That we were meant to be together forever. That this isn't the curse he views it as. That it was natural for your people and that I was bound to be here with him. She would have made it a plausible scientifically fairytale. Whereas you have made him feel responsible for what he views as a perversion. A mother wouldn't put this on her son. So here's what you'll do."

"You want me to change you back?" the computer's voice sneered as it interrupted.

"No, I want him for as long as possible. I don't want him to be alone." He outlined his plan, that Clark's friends and family would live slightly longer than average lives, that they would not be ravaged by age. Yes, they would age but comfortably without hip issues or cancer or natural blindness, that Lara would guide her son to good people, kind immortals, people he could trust and care for, always many humans but more creatures like himself. "Don't say you can't do this. I know you claim that you cannot interfere with human destiny; you claim you cannot give us cures to diseases but you have proven you can in changing me. You will be subtle in this and it won't change things in the long run but it will make his life happier and isn't that what you want?"

"Yes."

Lex left the room, finding Clark in what passed for a master bedroom, Clark never spent time here. He said it wasn't home. He said it made him ache to know his people and that the fortress wasn't a good enough approximation to be of any comfort. Clark had his eyes shut and Lex said, "Sorted."

Clark sat up, a smile bright on his face. "She fixed you?"

"No, she won't back down from that." Lex lied. "But she's going to make all or friends live longer, not age so harshly, she going to make sure good people are always drawn to you, other immortals and humans who will not hurt us. She's going to make it bearable."

"But it's still not right; it isn't natural."

Lex shrugged, "Just because it's not right does not mean it's categorically wrong. It'll be alright, I promise. Let's just go home and not worry. It's only a problem if we view it as one. All this means is that neither of us is alone and I will not see that as a bad thing."

The End


	6. Illness part one of two

Note: Because of the length of this section it will be posted in two halves, one this week one next week. Don't get freaked out when you get to the end!

* * *

Title: Illness (part one)

Author: Azure K. Mello

Words: 12,688

Summery: Set four years after "Young and Beautiful" Clark is kidnapped, injured, and the whole thing is televised.

Clark's Age : 38

Note: This is the sixth in a series. If you haven't read the other parts you will miss some of the references.

Disclaimer: All things DC belong to various parties, individuals mentioned belong to themselves, other television shows and bands belong to various companies and people. No copy right infringement is intended, please don't sue.

* * *

The media maelstrom after Australia and Clark's press conference afterwards took Superman out of the limelight. The press left him alone. He still did the occasional mugging but he was left to himself. It was as though, until Clark shouted at them, the reporters hadn't realized just how rude they were being.

There was a video of him on the internet, walking with Ignatius, not paying attention to teenagers with a camera, singing along with his headphones that were pumping out that really catchy song _Kryptonite_. It was a bit of a stir. A Metropolis reporter, who was both polite and didn't fear his no trespass signs, asked why he was singing the song that "glorified the crystal that could kill him".

Clark had smiled and responded, "It's not about Kryptonite; it's about love and the fact that we all need someone. It's a great song. Plus, y'know, I can sing it and seems like it's about me. 'Cause it sort of is, fictionally or metaphorically or possibly literally… whatever. And it's funny cause I can sing it around Lex and be like, 'if I go crazy yeah will you still call me Superman?' And he says no because if someone has a psychotic brake you shouldn't call them by their alter ego's name because that makes it more confusing."

That was the last time Clark made headlines for anything stupid and personal. Every once in while he would turn up on the news, pictured with the JLA but unlike the rest he wouldn't be wearing some stupid costume, just jeans and a tee shirt. Now, four years later, only Lex was making headlines. LLC was introducing a new modification on particle accelerators. It was all over the publications, not only the mainstream papers and business reports but also science journals all over the world.

People had flown into the Keys for the presentation. Lex had wanted to introduce the project on his own stomping grounds. But things were worrying Lex. He walked in smiling tightly as people took their seats.

"Morning, if you will open your hand outs to-"

The intercom beeped, "Lex?"

"Yes, Mercy?"

"Jacob and Mrs. Little just called. He's getting worse. Mrs. Kent will be here in an hour and a half. But Mrs. Little thinks he needs an IV and he won't let her near him."

Lex bit his inner cheek. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm very sorry for your inconvenience. My husband hasn't been ill like this… ever. Injured yes but not ill… I have to go. David Martin, my second, will walk you through the procedures and outlines. Again, I'm sorry about this." One hundred and thirty of the most influential people in business watched as Lex collected his briefcase. "You're all here for the week. We'll, um, start an hour earlier tomorrow."

In the history of the company this had happened once before. Todd Delton had been in the room some twenty-five years before when Lionel had announced that he needed to leave because his wife was ill. Two hours later Todd Delton had seen Lionel in downtown Metropolis with a young blonde woman. And so he wasn't sure he believed Lex now. The set up had been the same, a large group of very important business people, a new technology, and a supposedly ill spouse.

Everyone had known that Lillian Luthor was dying and no one had been offended that Lionel walked out. Instead they were pleased that the man they all thought was a cold bastard was, in fact, more concerned about his wife than money. He had profited as people had viewed him as a kinder, better man than they had in the past. Todd thought it was disgusting of Lex to use his supposedly ill husband to build suspense over his advancement or to look better; he was to have shown them a presentation of the new technology that afternoon. Instead he was striding out of the room looking determined. Todd Delton sat back to listen to David outline the project.

Lex rushed home, across the islands highway, to Key Largo to find his husband, passed out on the couch. He crossed the room to crouch down and feel Clark's forehead. But the moment he touched his husband Lex's hand was slapped away. Clark's eyes opened with fear. "Don't touch- Lex."

"Hi, baby."

"The doctor, Lex, she tried to hurt me."

"What doctor, Clark?"

"The woman in white. She's gone now. She had needles. And a nurse, he wore all white too. But she was in charge."

"Clark, that was Mrs. Little. She's been our chef for nine years. She wears white because she takes her profession seriously. The needle was for those IV bags we have. You're dehydrated and running a very high fever. You're hallucinating. Jacob's our butler. He's wearing white because he's hot."

"You think he's pretty?" Clark sounded hurt.

"No, baby, warm. It's a hot day and he's warm so he's wearing white. You're the only pretty person I see." He stroked Clark's face. "You are boiling."

"Hotter than Jacob?"

"By a good five degrees. Do you have ice packs?"

"The doctor gave me some. But they had kryptonite in them, so I threw them at her."

"You threw ice packs at Mrs. Little? Clark, she's not a doctor. It's not even her job to take care of you. She was helping you and you threw ice packs at her! I know you're ill but please don't throw things at people. It's impolite."

"Okay." Clark leaned off the couch and dropped his head onto Lex's shoulder. "You still like me, Lex?"

"You smell like vomit and sweat. You look like a drugged out hooker. You've managed to make everyone abandon you in the living room. But yes. I still like you." Lex stroked Clark's hair. "Lie back, I'm going to go get ice packs, a thermometer, and that IV."

"Will it hurt?"

"No, Clark. It'll be a little pinch and then you'll feel a little better." He kissed Clark's forehead as he moved Clark more firmly onto the sofa.

In the kitchen he saw Mrs. Little. "I am so sorry," he said.

"I was pelted with freezer packs. I've been in a lot of strange situations in the past. But I have never before been pelted with freezer packs." She started laughing. "What can I do to help?"

"You aren't mad?"

"I raised four boys. This is actually pretty funny."

"You can have the day off, if you like."

"Lex, be serious. I might be your chef but Clark's dangerously ill. Moreover, he vomited all over Jacob and called him a girly man-nurse so I think he's out in the garden avoiding everything. I don't think he wants me near him but I can help."

Lex gave up and asked, "Do you know where the thermometer is?"

She pulled it out of the cupboard next to the microwave as Lex grabbed the ice packs from the freezer. He slipped the thermometer into his pocket as he took an IV bag out of the meds cabinet. "Thank you," he said with full arms heading back to the living room. "Clark, would I ever hurt you?" he asked.

"No." Clark shook his head listlessly back and forth against the sofa cushion.

"Okay, then. I'm going to put this needle into your arm and it's going to put some liquid into your vein so that you don't need to drink or eat. It's got calories and water and stuff you need. Because every time you drink you puke and your body is thirsty. Okay?" He asked as he hooked the IV bag onto the lamp shade and eyed the prominent vein in Clark's arm.

"I trust you."

Lex easily hit the vein and, yet again, his ill spent teenage years didn't seem so stupid. "Did that hurt?" he asked.

Clark shook his head. "Tell the llamas to go away."

Lex looked around the empty room and said, in what Clark called his "commander in scary" voice, "Clark Kent is tired and you aren't helping matters. Leave, all of you, before I call security. Get out you freeloaders."

"Thank you." Lex slid the ice packs around Clark's body and slid the thermometer under his tongue.

He sat silently on the floor rubbing Clark's arm gently. "Open up." He took the thermometer and had time to register that it read 107.9 degrees Fahrenheit before Clark vomited bright green bile all over his shirt and pants. "Dude… that was kind of disgusting. I'm gonna go get changed." He slid off the floor and squelched off to the laundry room where he threw his clothes, covered in stomach bile, into the machine and put on his squash clothes. Coming back he said, "You can vomit on me now; you know I hate squash."

"You really do," agreed Clark. "But those are your favorite pants."

"It's okay. I'm sure it'll wash out." He said, picking Clark up a little so he could slid beneath him.

"It's purple cashmere."

"Lilac," corrected Lex.

"It's not going to wash out."

"Well then, I'll wear them while barbequing."

"You don't barbeque."

"Yeah well, I just won't wear them then. I only like them because you brought them from Germany for me after that huge pile up on the autobahn… plus they're lilac."

"Yeah," Clark shut his eyes and started to snore softly after a few moments which made Lex smile. He stroked his husband's hair gently and cursed which ever alien race was responsible for this.

Two days before a broken down, old, abandoned spaceship had hit the atmosphere. Which would have been fine. The metal was soft, pliant, and had burned up the moment it touched the gas around earth. But its fuel was an emulsion of liquid red, green, blue, and silver kryptonite. Lex could throttle the bastards… if they had necks… which he wasn't sure they did. Really, who the hell knows what aliens who are stupid enough to use kryptonite as a fuel look like? It would take a few days for the now gaseous kryptonite to burn out.

He was pleased that his paranoid streak had caused him to ask Clark for a blood sample after the exploding vase incident. He hadn't wanted to take Clark's blood, had never wanted to study him. But he had looked at the blood, studied it, figured out what made Clark tick and had formulated the IV bags in case he was ever hurt again. The bags had been put together in Lex's own lab, by his own hands, because he didn't want anyone to know what Clark needed. If they knew what he needed they could work backward and figure out what he was made of.

The doorbell rang and Clark rolled away. The bell went again and Lex remembered that Jacob was avoiding the house and pushed Clark gently off his lap. Opening the front door Lex saw a man whose name Lex searched for. "Mr. Dalton, hello."

Todd took in Lex's squash outfit and was pleased he'd brought such a huge bouquet of flowers. This was going to be good. He was about to out Lex as a liar when a pathetic, "Lex," came from behind him.

Lex sighed, "Mr. Dalton, do come in. Those are beautiful orchids."

Off kilter Todd reclaimed his sensibility and said, "I thought if any man was manly enough to receive flowers it would have to be Clark Kent."

Lex forced a laugh. "Clark."

"Lex, am I dying?" asked Clark as he rolled back onto his side.

"No, Clark, you have a very high fever, trouble breathing, you keep vomiting, and you're having hallucinations, but you are not dying."

"Is he a hallucination?" he asked pointing at Todd Dalton.

"No, no. This is Mr. Todd Dalton. He brought you flowers because you're manly and ill."

"Is he a doctor?"

"No, he's not going to even try and touch you. He's hopefully going to be a client; he's here to see the particle accelerator."

"Did you like it?" asked Clark perking up a little. There was an awkward silence and Clark said, "Oh, Lex, you didn't put it off!"

"You threw stuff at Mrs. Little and needed an IV. Mr. Dalton, please sit down. Would you like a drink?" He moved to the bar, put the flowers in a vase, and fixed two glasses of orange juice and tonic water.

"You've been excited for weeks about today," said Clark, struggling to sit up. "So instead you come home early and I vomit all over your favorite pants and put on ugly clothes so I can vomit at will."

"Everyone's here for a week there are all sorts of technology conferences going on down here. They can wait until tomorrow, once your mom comes this afternoon you'll have someone you can't throw things at, I'll go back to work tomorrow." He handed Todd a drink and sat down next to Clark, who instantly dropped his head onto Lex's shoulder.

"So, Mr. Dalton, are you excited for the demonstration? It's really amazing. I'm getting one for my birthday. It's going to be great. But a llama bit me."

"Clark, the llamas were a hallucination."

"Will Dad be mad at me?" He asked curling into Lex. He slumped down Lex's chest and pooled into Lex's lap. Lex watched the top of Clark's head as he tried to formulate an answer. How could he tell the man who'd given the eulogy that his father had died years prior? His mouth felt like sand paper as he swallowed.

"Why would he be mad?"

"I run around in a stupid outfit saving people and he told me on the phone that I need to be less conspicuous and spend more time on my school work."

"Baby, that was years ago. You're over heated head is getting confused. He's very proud of you."

"So why isn't he coming with Mom?"

"He just can't come. I'm sorry."

Clark sighed, turned over in Lex's lap and went back to dozing. Turning to Todd, Lex said softly, "Mr. Dalton, it was very kind of you to bring Clark flowers. But, may I ask why you're here? We've never spoken outside of the few business deals we've had."

Todd Dalton thought quickly and said, "I was at a meeting years ago where your father left under similar circumstances."

"Ah, well, my father may have left the meeting but I can promise that he didn't come home. It was a calculated move, I am sure." Looking Todd Dalton over he continued, "But you knew that. Which is why you looked so pleased when I opened the door in sporting wear." He laughed a dry laugh. "I'm not my father's son."

Clark seemed to surface slightly as he patted Lex's thigh and said sleepily, "The magnificent bastard is dead now." Lex laughed softly.

Todd Dalton looked like a deer caught in the head lights of Lex's Jaguar. "Mr. Luthor-"

"If the tables were turned I would have done the exact same thing. Although I would have most likely used Anthuriums and Lilies of the Valley. I'm glad you came, no matter the reason. He's completely out of it but I think he likes being treated like Lex Luthor's spouse as opposed to Superman. Flowers from an associate would please and amuse him very much if he was able to stay focused."

They spoke for a few more minutes about why Todd wanted a particle accelerator, what he would use it for. Finally Todd stood saying, "I should go, leave you to take care of Mr. Kent." He took a breath, wondering if he was about to say something inappropriate, "I'm pleased I came, if for the wrong reasons, I'm glad you proved me so very wrong." Lex started to shimmy to get out from under Clark but Todd held up a hand, "Please. Mr. Luthor, don't get up. I'll show myself out."

Jacob cleared his throat as he came, quietly as ever, into the room. "Lex, I'm going to go and pick up Mrs. Kent. And I'm taking Ignatius." The last statement is Jacob asserting himself. Ignatius rarely left the house without Lex or Clark.

Lex tried not to smile as he said, "He vomited all over you and insulted your masculinity. Take the dog and expect an apology. And if he wakes up and misses Ignatius I will inform him that it's your right."

Jacob nodded and showed Todd Dalton to the door as he grabbed the keys to the Lexus he preferred to drive. Lex relaxed into the couch and turned on the stock market, he had the channel muted and sat watching the numbers.

Mrs. Little came in holding a glass of grapefruit juice and the most gorgeous sandwich Lex could have asked for, taramosalata on thick, freshly baked bread, with thick slices of cucumber. "You are truly beneficent." He bit into the sandwich, almost growling at the fantastic texture. He hadn't eaten since last night, too excited that morning, too worried ever since.

"How's he doing?"

His brow furrowed. "He's worried his father is mad at him and believes llamas are biting him."

"Oh, Lex." It had been splashed all over the society pages. Lex Luthor, who had not attended his father's funeral, was present at Jonathan Kent's. He had come to the funeral with his twenty year old lover, holding hands. The two had never, in public, touched in any way that could have been questioned. Lex had worried about Clark's image.

All the questions as to why Lex Luthor turned up at every prominent happening with some farm grown kid had stopped. The two never spoke about their relationship. There were whispers, accusations, but never a word from the pair. Two years later the papers spoke of the pair's small wedding. They all assumed Lex was slumming, playing at something that he would grow out of, so no one complained much. They simply laughed derisively about the situation, and pitied poor, sad journalist Clark Kent, behind the two men's backs.

Everyone had thought it would last a couple of years and burn out. No one expected it to make it even to the seven year itch. But here they were after sixteen years of marriage. The public liked Lex less then they had when he was young and more than they had when they thought he was Superman's arch nemesis.

So Lex sat, alone save for his sleeping husband, and waited for Martha. When she arrived it was all a flurry of motion. She walked in, with Ignatius hot on her heals, the dog was barking and Clark stirred. "Mom?"

"Hi, honey, Lex." She wasted no time and crouched to check his pulse and feel his head. "How do you feel?"

"Lex says I won't die." He saw Jacob and said, "I'm sorry about before."

"You have an incredibly high fever; it's fine."

The evening was spent taking care of Clark as he drifted in and out of consciousness. He repeatedly asked for Jonathan and Lex just kept assuring him that his dad wasn't angry but couldn't be there. Martha told Lex before bed that he had to go to work tomorrow, to show off his achievement. And Lex went to sleep with Clark packed in a thermo blanket and ice, his IV bag hanging from the headboard. In the morning his filled their huge bathtub with ice water and left Clark under Martha's care.

In the office, Lex strode into the meeting room smiling and said, "Good morning. I will be holding the demonstration in a half hour. You all viewed the specs yesterday. If you have questions now's the time and do, please, help yourselves to breakfast. After this morning's demonstrations and lunch I must go back home. Clark's situation isn't improving."

"Is he alright?" asked Todd.

"Ah." Lex explained to the room, "Mr. Dalton came over yesterday afternoon." To Todd he said, "He isn't getting any worse. His temperature has stabilized about 108, which isn't good. He's all hallucinations and vomit. He threw up on the dog this morning. The problem is, as it's not an infection, his body isn't being usefully heated. It can't fight this off; it just needs to wait it out. So, it's worrying. He needs to cool down. But his mom is here so he's a little calmer.

"If any of you have questions later in the day you can call or stop by the house. Phillip Laundries' presentation of his companies' new gene sequencing program is at two. He's sending cars to your hotels at a quarter to for any interested parties."

He answered questions for a while then grabbed some breakfast of his own. Bruce Wayne sidled up to him, "I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner." His voice wasn't quiet and Lex took the hint: this was a conversation designed for the room at large.

"That Joker was ravaging your town. It would be infeasible for a CEO and favorite son to leave before Batman had him put away and the city was back in order. I know you're doing this whole conference circuit but can you hang around a bit?"

"Lucius Fox is here," he nodded towards his vice president across the room, "He understands more of this stuff than me. You know that, I'm just a party boy made good." Lex nearly laughed at that. Bruce was the only boy at school who beat Lex in the sciences. But this was the act and Lex wasn't outside of it, not intended to be taken in. It was comfortable to be inside the façade with his closest and oldest friend. "I'm here for you. By the way, that crazy freak broke into my house last night."

"Joker broke into your house?" Lex eyes widened and he worried that Bruce had been found out.

"No, Batman. He scared the hell out of me, I screamed like a girl. But he wanted me to get this to you." He pulled an inhaler out of his pocket. "Said that he and the mars man knocked it up. It's an inhaler of some kind a lead stuff, ionized gas or something. It should bond to the kryptonite in Clark's lung and neutralize it. Of course, in Clark's state it could also give him bad lead poisoning so it a last resort thing. He said they could fix Clark's lungs in the Watch Tower but they can't cure heart failure. Y'know, that Batman sets my teeth on edge. At first I thought he was being funny but he's mostly just scary."

"That's Clark's friend you're disparaging there."

"And I'm not saying he's bad or anything, just that he's creepy as hell."

Lex pocketed the inhaler. "Thank him for me."

"I'm actually hoping I never see him again. He made me nervous." A couple of people standing near them chuckled and Bruce gave them a sheepish grin. To them he said, "He's terrifying. On the news he's a useful, sullen guy in a silly getup. When he's standing in your study he's this hulking madman who speaks far too calmly to be actually calm."

Lex smiled and ate his citrus salad as he and Bruce discussed Chloe's latest escapades that very nearly got her shot but also got her yet another byline. That Alfred was at his wits end chasing Cecily but spoiled her more than he had Bruce and that she called him Granddad. And once people were done with breakfast Lex led them to the room where the machine was set up. He did a full demonstration of the new version of the particle accelerator. People were instantly enamored and wanted one of their own and Lex was discussing it with people. Bruce came over and loudly asked very complicated questions.

In a great mood Lex laughed, "Mr. I-don't-understand-science shows his true colors."

"You know I can't miss this chance to grill you."

Lex answered all of his questions and the follow ups with concise and technical answers that had Bruce and the room nodding. Some people wandered away, CEOs who wanted one for their RandD departments but didn't actually understand the importance and complexities of the machine.

"I want three, one for headquarters, one for Edge City, and one just to play with."

Lex knew the third would go to the Watch Tower. But it didn't matter the Wayne Industries would pay as the company was wholly privately owned and there were no stock holders to explain actions to. "Clark's building a safe room in the Fortress for his. He said he'll be working with unstable particles. I shudder to think. He already has four experiments set up with tomes of notes."

"His birthday's not for two more months," Bruce sounded genuinely worried.

Lex shrugged just as Mercy's voice came from the wall unit. "Lex?"

"Yes?"

"There's been a break in at your house. All of security and Mrs. Kent have been shot with some alien tec weapon. And Clark's missing."

"What?" Lex was going grey and Bruce lunged forward to grab Lex's elbows before the other man could collapse.

"They're being taken over to Key West Outlook."

"I'll drive," said Bruce softly. Lex gave a weak nod. Speaking to the room Bruce said, "David Marin can direct you to the sales representatives." He led his nearly catatonic friend out of the room with a nod to Fox. In the car he said, "He'll be okay."

"He's ill, Bruce."

"If they're really alien maybe their taking him out of the atmosphere to help him."

"And they shot eleven people just to be clever? Don't try to placate me."

Bruce lapsed into silence. As he pulled up to the emergency room he said, "The Justice League stands behind you, Alex. We'll do everything we can. Will you be able to get in while I park?"

Lex nodded and stepped out of the car on mostly stable legs. Bruce watched Lex enter the building before going to the lot. There was already press crowding around the entrance shouting questions. Lex looked at them and said softly but clearly, "Get some dignity."

Inside he saw faces of husbands and wives all of whom he knew and the Flash and Wonder Woman leaning against the wall. He moved to them and asked, "How are they?"

"Unconscious, burn marks, but stable with good vitals. J'onn is studying them, trying to figure out what the weapon was, see if we can know learn who did this," said Flash.

Diana added, "GL and Hawkgirl are at the Watch Tower trying to trace the ship."

"Can the League afford you all doing this?" asked Lex feeling numb.

"Now that we're unlimited, lots of people have taken over our posts." It was disconcerting to see Wally so calm. "Why don't you go see Mrs. Kent?"

A nurse started walking towards them and Lex pulled out a credit card. "Don't bill these people. Anything their insurance doesn't cover charge to me."

She nodded, "Mrs. Kent's in room four, we're about to transfer her to ICU but you can go in."

"Thank you," he nodded and started to walk away. He saw Bruce and nodded towards the corridor before leaving. J'onn was in the room when Lex walked in, "Hello."

"Lex, I hope you don't mind. The families were getting nervous around my machines. All of the victims have the same readings so I'm performing the follow ups on Mrs. Kent."

Even on J'onn's alien features Lex could see both the anger and sadness on his face. "J'onn, is she okay?"

"She'll be fine."

"Then why are you so mad?"asked Lex his voice near deadly. "What aren't you saying?"

"She'll be fine, Lex. I just… I do not like seeing Mrs. Kent this way. You remember that year when we first started the Justice League? Clark was in college still. And it was Christmas and your father wanted you some place. Everyone had plans for Christmas and I was going to stay at the Tower. I did not appreciate Earth's holidays yet…"

His voice trailed off and Lex knew what the man was not saying, his wife, children, and race were dead. And, though it had been five hundred years, he was only just starting to fully grieve and understand what had happened. "But Clark made me go home with him. And, while he had given Mrs. Kent my measurements for a sweater and told them that I was interested in astronomy because they wanted to make sure I had Christmas gifts, it was clear he hadn't said anything about my appearance. It would never occur to Clark to warn his parents that I was a Martian because he never thought of such things mattering.

"Her eyes betrayed her surprise but she said, 'Mr. J'onzz it's so nice to finally meet you. Is it Mr. J'onzz or is your planet like China where the last names come first?' She was speaking loudly and I didn't understand. I told her to please call me J'onn. And then Mr. Kent came to say hello. And I realized that she was speaking loudly to prepare him so that he wouldn't be shocked or scream when he saw me. And they kept feeding me, and talking to me, and I helped Mr. Kent fix that awful Deere tractor they had back then, and it was the first time I felt anything near happy or normal in five hundred years. So, while she is fine, I am not happy about her being this way." He looked at the burn and flinched. J'onn was deeply frightened by fire as any burn was very dangerous for him and he said, "I have a salve at the Tower that will heal that. I shall fetch it when I am done here. The others… they don't trust me so they mightn't want their spouses to have it if it comes from me. Perhaps you could say it is a LLC invention."

"Or," said Lex, "they can see the results on Martha and ask you themselves. I would not take credit for your work. Nor will I pander to their ignorance."

J'onn gave him a weak smile. "I have my readings; I will give them to the computer for analyzing. I shall return soon." He squeezed Lex's shoulder and faded into nothing.

A nurse came in to transport Martha to ICU and Lex walked with her. They passed rooms in the hall filled with people Lex knew. As he watched them sit next to their loved ones he knew he had to go talk to them. But he couldn't leave Martha. To the nurse he said, "Would you mind, when you get a second, sending Bruce Wayne up here?"

She faltered. "Only family is supposed to be in here."

"Okay, but Martha's my mother-in-law and Bruce is my best friend. I need someone to be sitting with her while I go and check in with the families of the people who were shot at my house. So, under the circumstances, would that be alright?"

She smiled understandingly, "Yes, I'll fetch him for you."

Lex sat down next to her bed and held her hand. He felt hot as hell, and sort of ill, and he tried to calm down. Bruce walked in silently and sat down on her other side. He didn't say anything. He watched the strange rhythm of Lex's chest and knew what he was doing. Lex breathed in deeply and exhaled shallowly until he said, "Okay."

"Any better?"

"No, not all. But I need to go."

"I'll be here, don't worry."

Lex stood and walked to the next room where Hal Stent's wife was sitting at her husband's side. "Myra, hello."

"Lex," she started to rise and Lex put out a hand.

"Please, don't get up. I'm so sorry about this."

"Your friend said he was fine. He knew working for you might be dangerous. I'm not mad. I'm sorry about Clark."

"Thank you. Do you need anything?"

She said no and Lex left a few moments later. The conversation was the same in every room. Except in Rita's. Her mother was in El Salvador Lex whipped out his cell phone, "Mercy? Rita Perez, did you send a jet?"

"Her mother should be here in eight hours."

"Can you cancel that? Flash can get her."

"Of course, is there anything I can do?"

"No just… I don't know, keep me updated or something."

"Absolutely. We've had one hundred and fourteen orders thus far for the machine."

"Thanks, I, um."

"You don't really care," she said understandingly.

"I can't summon the energy for that. Sorry."

"No of course. Don't worry. I can cover all this. And when you're ready and Clark's home safe, I'll celebrate with you."

"Thanks." He hung up and walked out to the waiting room. Mercy didn't even question whether or not Clark would be back, or if Lex was okay. To her it was obvious: Clark would be back and Lex was not okay. And Lex felt deeply grateful to her that she didn't press him for words on subjects to which she had already decided the answers. Going immediately to Diana and Wally he asked, "Wonder Woman can you cover this sentry duty by yourself for a half hour?" She nodded. "Then Flash would you do me a favor and run to El Salvador?"

"Rita's mom?"

"Yeah."

"She moved since Rita's sister had the baby?"

"No."

"Then I'll be back in twenty minutes unless she hasn't packed a bag. In which case I'll pack for her and it will take twenty-one and a half minutes."

Lex studied him for a moment, "Why the extra thirty seconds?"

"She might have hats that match her dresses."

Lex nodded thinking that Wally was possibly the gayest strait man Lex had ever met. Wally thought of hats and had an obsession with iced mochas. He thought they were the key to getting into women's pants but he drank them when no one was around. But he would never point that out because Wally was kind of touchy about it. "Thanks for this."

Wally shook his head, "Rita tried to teach me how to play chess without laughing at me."  
He was off in a blur.

Turning to Diana he asked, "Would you like a cup of coffee or anything?"

"No, Lex, I'm fine. Go back to Martha." Lex nodded and went to sit next to Bruce.

Bruce said nothing. Relinquishing Martha's hands Bruce sat back a little. Eventually he said, "This isn't your fault."

"I didn't say it was," Lex replied not meeting his eye.

"Fuck you, Alex. You don't need to say it. You went to work even though you didn't want to, you felt like you were palming off your husband on his mother, and now everyone is shot and Clark's missing. Clark is supposed to be indestructible so when he gets the sniffles you fly his mother down." His voice was getting louder. "You freaked out over a fever! Something unconnected happened and now you're acting like it's your fault and like you shot these people. If you had stayed home you would have lost billions of dollars and you would be lying in the bed next to Martha's. And then you couldn't have done anything."

Lex shouted right back. "I can't do anything anyway! I'm offering people goddamned coffee! And who cares about the goddamn money? Yeah, we would have lost a lot of money if we hadn't done the presentation this week but someone else could have done it. I was showing off because I was really proud as I did it all. But the fact is it still belongs to the company. So that's on me. As for my over reacting: he was so hot an Earth human would have been dead, he couldn't stop vomiting, and he kept asking for his dead father! So no, no, Bruce. Fuck you. Because while I might not have been able to do anything I'm allowed to be angry at myself and at you. If you'd been here you would know it wasn't fucking sniffles. You're new unlimited amount of friends couldn't have covered your stuff in Metropolis? I called you two days ago, Bruce, and you get here this morning! I asked you for help. I asked _you_ for help. I haven't done that since I was sixteen. You were putting your shit first too. Clark needed me; I needed you. So right now? I feel like we both dropped the fucking ball!"

Bruce watched him as Lex breathed in slowly. "A bit better?"

Lex nodded, "Much, thank you. Much. I needed to shout."

"I know. You want to go punch some paparazzi? A few broken noses and you'll be back at the top of your game."

"Can't stand up, knees too weak."

"You really enjoy shouting much too much. It's a character flaw."

"Says the guy who runs around in a cowl."

Bruce laughed and patted Lex's knee, "I'll get us coffee."

J'onn faded into being and held out the cream. Lex nodded. "Hi, J'onn. Go ahead, and thank you for this."

J'onn gave him another one of his odd smiles and pulled Martha's hospital gown away from her shoulder and applied the balm in gentle circles. The burn faded and J'onn left to help the other. Bruce came in with coffee just as a strange light came over the room and Lex turned to see a screen materializing behind with faces on it. The faces reminded him of Clark's fortress in that the features' angles weren't quite right, none of it matched up. They looked like something out of a nightmare.

Lex stood slowly and asked, "Where is he?"

"Do you know who we are?"

"You're the individuals who shot my people and stole my husband. You're cowards who waited until he was sick, until the chef, butler, and I were out of the house and attacked. Outside of that, I don't really care."

"We made him sick."

"What?"

"For those of you who don't know, two days ago an apparent piece of space junk hit the atmosphere filled with gaseous kryptonite. Clark Kent has been incapacitated and Alexander Luthor has been scared witless."

"Who are you talking to?" asked Lex wondering if they were mad as well as evil.

"We are sending this conversation out to your world in every language. Do you know, eighty percent of people with access to televisions that were broadcasting news from that hospital were watching? Everyone treats your husband and you like a spectator sport. Of course, a small percentage were concerned, most just think of it as entertainment. But now this conversation is being projected to every individual on Earth."

"You really aren't endearing yourself to me at all."

"We do not need to. We have your Clark Kent. And while the world believes that you are an opportunist, believes that your marriage is motivated by some agenda, we know the truth. We have watched your civilization for thousands of years. We know everything about every individual on your planet. And we know you, Alexander Luthor, better than you could ever know yourself. We know how intelligent you are. You believe you are clever, believe that you must be in the top five percent. But, in fact, other than a man of no import or distinguish in India, who will die sometime in the next three months, you are the most intelligent human being on Earth. Yet you make some of the worst decisions because of him.

"Do you know that you were months away from curing all cancer when he told you that the meteorite harmed him? And you destroyed it all. Yes, your research was unstable and dangerous but you would have found the cure if you had continued. The cure never would have been approved by the government yet you would still have done it. But the boy Kent was more important. The time he fell in the volcano during the eclipse when he had so little power and was in a coma for weeks you didn't go to a technology meeting. There you would have met a man and together would have discovered the particle that makes up the electron of an atom.

"He is nothing but a liability to you. He causes you untold pain. His computer stretched your life so that you will live longer than any human being ever has or will. And the idea sickens you. It isn't right and Bruce Wayne, Mercy Graves, and Martha Kent the three people who it will break you to lose will die long before you. You will live with that. All the others, that family your husband has pulled together around you, they will all die and you will grieve for them. You wouldn't have had to do this if it weren't for him. Not only would you have had the normal life span of a human but you wouldn't have cared. You shut yourself up so well after Perry White cleverly interviewed you when you were sixteen that you just didn't care about people anymore. And then there was your Clark and warmth and family. So you didn't beat the machine down or argue. Instead you traded your mortality for the promise that his computer would protect the people he loved, give them happier lives. You accepted it because your Clark Kent shouldn't be alone."

"How dare-"

"Be quiet, Alexander Luthor. We have your husband, so be quiet. The only reason you've spoken this long is that you hope we will keep our attention on you before turning to him. You're almost correct. We have been educating him. But our later plans start after this conversation. So the longer we talk the longer he has. He is a liability to you, you worry about him, even without sun spots or accidents you worry all the time when he is off do gooding. Because you are the only person who knows the truth, what he never told the Kents or the Justice League. He isn't really invulnerable. Oh sure, as he said to the Green Lantern 'I'm the invulnerable one. Every punch I take is one they don't have to.' It's true that it won't break him the way it will them. But, he feels human pain.

"When he puts out those fires with his hands he is on fire and feels it as any man would. When he holds together the widening schism during an earthquake, so that people might escape, he feels as though he is being ripped to shreds. A punch by a super being won't make him bleed but it feels like it does. His super hearing which he can't stand turning off (what if someone needs him) gives him continual migraines. He feels all of the pain one might imagine but the people of your world don't even consider that. To them he is the superman, a commodity who exists to save them. They do not think that what he is doing is amazing because they feel it is what he should do. Just as he feels it is what he must do, after his mother's miscarriage, his father's heart, Batman's misery. He couldn't be 'mild-mannered' not when he could do something. No matter the cost he had to do something.

"You are his every strength. You protect him, care for him, believe him, bolster him up. You listen to his opinions, give him your own, and support his decisions. You think as one, you give him everything he might need in all ways. You make him feel human."

"He is human!" Lex burst out.

"No, we call him 'your Clark Kent' because he isn't. That is who he wants to be, who you and yours view him as being. He isn't human; he is Kal-El, the last son of Krypton."

"He is Martha Kent's son. The woman you shot."

"The woman who brought him up doesn't even comprehend him. Do you know that the Kents guessed his birthday on his false birth certificate? They had it correct to the day but were three years late. He was six when he came to your planet not three. It's almost as if they, the Kents, were keyed into something put out of sync. Does that comfort you at all? You didn't sleep with a sixteen year old, he was nineteen. Does that make you feel less ashamed then when you did it? Because you were ashamed, no matter what you told him about it not mattering. You wanted to give him everything he desired, but wondered if you weren't somehow sick for bedding a child.

"His computer lied to you when it told him there were twenty-six people he might have been with. It was always you, Alexander Luthor. From the moment he told you the truth it was you. While he is naught but a liability to you, you love him. When he told people they changed, Pete resented him, Chloe forgave him, Lois stopped wanting Superman. They all grew in the end; they all accepted it, went back to thinking of him as your Clark. But they saw him differently, Chloe didn't care about his lies, Pete didn't feel ditched when your Clark ran out on him, Lois felt closer to him. But you, you just didn't care. It didn't change anything about your relationship, you still argued, resented lateness, worried about him. It didn't faze you for a moment."

"I already knew."

"Yes, you had figured it out. But when you knew, even before he told you, it changed nothing. You viewed him as your miracle. You thought you hit him with the car but he brought you back from the dead. He made you think there was goodness in the world; you didn't care about its origins just that it existed. He lied all the time, but only well enough to cover the truths not cover the lies and so you accepted it. And when you figured out that he wasn't from Earth you felt that you understood him a little more but it didn't change how you saw him. You still saw him as your Clark, your miracle.

"And really, how could you not. Your beloved mother killed Julian to keep him from your father's cruelty. Why couldn't she have done the same for you? And then she died and left you with that sadistic, malformed creature you called Dad. And you were ashamed because as much as you loved her you hated her for leaving you alone with him. You tried to be what he wanted. You sought your father's love right to the end. But you weren't good enough because no matter what he did to you, you weren't twisted like him. So he cast you aside and sent you to the hellish small town where you died in a river and were reborn on its banks." The face seemed to sneer, "You have such a poetic way of thinking. You are a truly interesting man, Luthor, worth studying. Because you are so clever yet more blind than practically anyone we have ever studied. You are unique. Even your sexuality is interesting: you slept with a hundred and twenty-six women, eight men, and Kal-El. And you only ever loved him. And you loved him before you knew he was an alien. What was special about him?"

"Who knows? I was a whore. So if you're studying interesting creatures, Dr. Mengele, why don't we trade? You can take me and just bring back Clark. No tricks, no schemes. You can drop Clark off wherever you like, he's ill it will take him too long to get to me, by then you can have picked me up. I give you my word that the Justice League won't interfere. He's just the last of a race, you studied them, right? Or else you wouldn't have been able to grab him. So what's special about him? Some sun interference? Well, that's not interesting. I'm apparently unique."

The face broke into laughing. And it seemed to do just that _break_. It looked wrong and strange, an unintended distortion. "Mengele? His cruelty was pointless. He learned nothing. That is not our aim." It seemed to shake off the humor and said, "You would change places with him. We know that. That's unique too. And you would do everything in your power to keep the Justice League off of it. But this isn't a scientific study."

"So what are you doing? Why did you take him? Why are you broadcasting this?"

"We have taken him out of your reality, you cannot track us. This is a different… universe. We are interested in apathy, empathy, sympathy. We are interested in the emotions sentient creatures feel for one another. People do not care for you or Kal-El, not really. People use your products and technologies in their homes and businesses. Children have Superman pajamas and action figures. Objects all licensed by a small division of LLC that puts the money aside for Kal-El, money he doesn't know he has because you think it would upset him to make money off of Superman. But no one really cares. No, we are wrong. The third world likes you. You send them millions of dollars in microloans and Kal-El is there practically once a day, as he hands out free LLC AIDs medications. They actually care for you in third world nations but they cannot see past their own problems for long. So we are sending this out so that people see you. Not just the front you send out but the actuality of Alexander Luthor. We are interested in what they will think of you then. So we will watch what happens. We will be performing minor surgery on your husband and will send that out to them as well."

"Live alien autopsy? Vivisection. Is that part of his education?" Lex's voice was deadly cold.

"No, his education is about the world, how it sees him, how it works, it will be complete upon his arrival back upon Earth and his reception. The surgery isn't for his benefit; it is an education in pain for your human race. We will show the world his formative moments, your own as well, show what is telling."

"Education in pain? I'm the poetic one? You're telling me that you're butchering my husband to prove that he feels pain. Prove that he isn't an automaton to people so blind and petty that they don't already realize it? He's given them everything. And now you're going to inflict yet more pain upon him to give them understanding? You want to make people see him as a person by breaking him down? I don't think they deserve to understand him, not when he's already tried so hard."

"You misunderstand. We have no interest in the outcome. This is a social experiment. We don't care if they like him, or you. We have no expectations, only care about studying the outcome. It might change something, it might not; we just want to see what will happen. The surgery will begin in an hour or so, that should give you some time to compose yourself before you stand witness. It will take approximately five hours. This conversation and the surgery will be repeated continually for a week. There will be others… the scenes of your lives we choose to show. You'll have your husband back in three days. And the Kent woman and the others will wake in a few hours. Give them codeine for the pain when they wake up, it won't upset their stomachs. The Martian already healed the burns, he would. Martians are the only people in your solar system who had empathy and compassion prior to any form of strife… Interesting. We are now taking you off the air."

As the screen blinked out of being Lex turned to take the coffee from Bruce and chugged it down. Bruce just stood frozen staring at where the screen had been. Speaking softly Lex said, "I would like some physical violence now. Can we go break those mud-rakers noses?"

"He never told me –we wouldn't have let him- why didn't he tell us that-"

"Bruce," Lex interrupted. "Please be quiet. Let's not cast aspersions or defend him when he isn't here to argue or take it on the chin. He didn't tell you because you would have tried to stop him. So, please. Let's go see what scum is still lurking out there and do something stupid and rash. Then we'll call everyone and see what they want to do, where they want to be, because in an hour something horrible is going to happen."

Bruce gave an accenting noise. Gently grasping Lex's arm to give him some strength as they walked they moved out of the room and down the hall. People were all staring at Lex but he didn't notice just forged on to the entrance. The screens came back. Stopping he watched it unfold. He saw himself hit Clark with a car and the boy denied it. It was such a distant memory.

Lex was shooting Clark after shaking Rickman's hand. Watching, Lex was transfixed. He didn't remember it at all. He had no recollection of it but Clark had told him. He saw how incredibly cold he was. He told Clark that friendship was a fairytale and the best you could hope for were fear and respect. He watched as Clark went home and showed his parents the bruises and how he, Lex, went by the next day to see if he'd hurt Clark. Clark lied through his teeth. Seeing Clark lie was odd. Lex had forgotten how badly Clark lied and it made him smile a little to see how transparent his boy had been. But he had shot Clark that point had his mind reeling. He had shot Clark.

And then it flashed later to him accusing Clark of lying to him about the day they met. Clark had been struck by lightning and in so much pain. He had no abilities and was scared and Lex asked him if he was okay. "Yeah," Clark said, "never better. Maybe we can go out to the parking lot and you can hit me with your car." He watched himself calling off his investigations and telling Roger Nixon to stay away from Clark. And telling Clark that if he tried to save the world he would end up with a messiah complex and a lot of enemies.

It went forward to Rachel and Clark telling him the truth. It was so much easier to watch. They were good and safe happy memories and while it made him ill to think that people all over the earth were watching it was still somehow easier to digest because now it was him and Clark as a team.

Lex started moving again through the halls with a new purpose. He threw open the door hospital door with more force than necessary. There were only ten reporters, some with camera crews, still there. The others had some modicum of human compassion and had left.

Lex inhaled, "You just had your statement. Leave." Then there were three reporters left, all men, one with a camera crew. "Really, I've warned you: go." One man laughed and Lex was down the stairs in a shot and had punched him. He turned and hit the other two while still moving. He hadn't broken their noses; he had decimated their faces. Rolling his neck he cracked about ten bones.

With an off kilter smile, Bruce said, "You broke form, Alex. That hip pivot was mile wide. Your kidneys were completely unprotected. If any one of them was any good you'd be pissing blood for a week."

Lex and Clark were in Metropolis for an event at the museum. Lex remembered the night it was only about a month and a half after that first trip together and it was their first time back in the city. "Clark, I have a confession and you might be very angry," Lex said handing him a soda.

"Let's hear it," replied Clark.

"I told you I figured out your being an alien after Rachel. But I didn't tell you that I tried to investigate it for ages before that."

Clark studied him and said, "I know… Roger Nixon."

"You knew?" asked Lex.

"I'm smart, Lex. Like alien-intelligence smart. I was always aware of it."

"And you aren't mad?"

"It freaked me out. I was scared you would find out the truth before I could be brave enough to tell you… But, no, I'm not mad. You can't leave things alone. You can't cope with a mystery. It wasn't as though you were doing it out of meanness. I lied to you, a lot. You liked me, cared for me, but you couldn't really trust me. And you couldn't have asked me about it. I would have lied some more. So, no I'm not mad." He leaned forward and kissed Lex. "Hey, as you had me investigated for over a year can I not wear a tie to this? I get that there's a dress code but you do own the wing and you sort of owe me."

Lex laughed, "Go for it: wear jeans."

One of the men was moaning and shouting, Lex wasn't paying attention to him but he heard Bruce say, "Dude he warned you, suck it up… Is that camera _really_ rolling? Turn it off before I smash it to pieces. What is wrong with you people? How is this news? How is watching a man break news? Turn it off."

Lex noticed the woman who was hanging back. "Lois? How did you?" His words trailed off.

"Armstrong Industries is unveiling their new spectrometer tonight. I'm supposed to cover it. I didn't want to bother you with Clark so ill, I thought I would drop by tomorrow." Pointing to the hospital she said, "They were really polite but they wouldn't let me in, press and all."

Lex and Clark were sitting in the loft, the Fortress of Solitude. Clark was laughing, drawing pictures in a notebook saying, "Look, this will be Superman, see the 's'?"

"Isn't that the symbol of Lara El's house?" asked Lex.

"On Krypton sure; here it's just an 's'."

"Why 'Superman'?" asked Lex not for the first time. "I get that you like Nietzsche but isn't it a bit ridiculous?"

"Lex, the whole point of this is to be a light counterpoint to Batman. I'm wearing underwear over tights and you're worried that I'm calling myself Superman? That's what will make me look foolish?"

"Lois is at The Planet now. Once you do something 'super' she could do a piece on you. You could show her the frozen fortress."

"I don't want to make Lois go there; it's cold. She bitches about Kansas winters."

Lex watched the scene unfold, they were young and he remembered the hot hazy day when Clark had doodled, Lex had taken calls, and neither of them left the loft, too dazed with heat to move. Groaning Lex said, "Come on, Lois inside."

"I spoke to Chloe, Pete and Lana, and Jimmy. Mercy sent planes for them. I hope that's okay."

Lex nodded, "I'm glad you sorted it out."

"Cecily's staying home," she added to Bruce.

As they walked inside one of the reporters stumbled after them. An admitting nurse put out her hand to him saying, "I'm so sorry, sir. With the attack at the Kent/Luthor house we have our hands full. There's a medi-center just a block away. I'm sure your camera crew wouldn't mind driving you and your two friends over." She shut the door behind herself and to Lois said, "I'm sorry we kept you out."

Lois gave her a tight smile, "You couldn't have been sure; I understand."

Pointing towards the door and the three wounded men Lex asked, "Was that legal?"

The woman shrugged, "First do no harm. It would be detrimental to you and your people to let those vultures in here. It's not as though it will make a difference if they're treated here or if they go to the medi-center. Besides, all of the admission staff just saw what happened so it might have taken us hours to actually offer them help." Continuing she said, "Mr. Luthor, if there's anything we can do, please don't hesitate to ask."

To the nurse he said, "Thank you. A Charlotte Little and a Jacob Lars might come, if they do could you give them Martha's room number?"

"Of course."

Lex kept walking, determined to get to Martha before collapsing. People were still watching but no one approached and Lex swung into Martha's room and finally allowed himself to sit, after pulling up chairs for Bruce and Lois. He breathed out slowly, watching the screens where he was gently stroking Clark's hair and reading a book. Clark was fast asleep and drooling on Lex's six hundred dollar pants. "There's no way we can keep her unconscious for the next week is there?"

Bruce shook his head, "It's not a good idea."

"Great, good, wonderful, so she's going to wake up and see all this? That's just fantastic."

"Alex-"

"Bruce, please don't, not right now. Do you want some more coffee or something?"

"I'll get it. Lois?"

"Decaf, thanks. Bruce, do you need to go to um…" She faltered, concerned about someone listening.

"I have a good team. I'm sure Lucius Fox can do what's needed here and as for the rest… they're on it." Suddenly realizing something he turned to Lex, "You slept with a hundred and thirty-five people?"

Clark was laughing happily on screen though Lex was carefully not watching it. He heard himself asking Clark to make popcorn when the microwave had broken and Clark laughing, saying that superheroes don't use their power for personal gain. He heard the gasp from Clark when he had tried to make the popcorn but instead caught the bag on fire and had to throw it into the sink. It was before his ice breath had manifested.

Lex blinked into the present, "I would have said it was closer to fifty people, but I was doing a lot of drugs back then, and there were a few orgies… thank God for my immune system… or thank Krypton for exploding, whatever."

"One hundred and thirty-five. In six years."

"Apparently. How the hell did I graduate high school and college in six years? How did I fit it all in? Christ." He gave a dry laugh even as dropped his head into his hands. "Christ," he repeated but Bruce knew it wasn't in reference to his sex life.

"Watch him," he mouthed to Lois and went for the coffee.

Lex remained very still, head still basically in his lap. "I would hug you," said Lois, "but that's really not what's going to help you, is it?"

Clark was bitching about a sociology research paper in college and asking Lex whether or not it would be a good excuse to tell the professor he was an alien and human ways were foreign to him. Lex was snorting and saying, "Sure, you want to get committed, or possibly just fail, or piss him off, or maybe expose yourself. If, on the other hand, you don't want to point out your illegal alien status I have a couple of really good books I can loan you."

"Lois," he sighed. "I will be very upset when you die. You know that."

"Of course I do, Lex. I'm not your brother, mother, or daughter. Bruce, Mrs. Kent, and Marcy pretty much are. I'm not insulted." She sat down on the floor next to the chair. "They're your family, I'm Clark's. Anyone would be upset about their sister-in-law dying but it's not the same as a sister. I wasn't offended. I'd rather I didn't add a boulder to your weight, I'll be a heavy brick." He laughed a short bark. "They will send him home. I know this is breaking you, I wish I could do something, but they are sending him home."

"After what sort of surgery?" he asked, finally looking up.

"I'm not saying it's alright, that it's not horrific, I'm telling you that you need to focus on the light. Aren't you supposed to be goal oriented? He is coming home. Just focus on that. Once he gets here you can take it from there. And I know you'll watch the surgery from start to finish. But when you've seen the whole thing once I have," she opened her purse and spilled the contents, "wax ear plugs, sleeping pills, and a sleep mask. It's as close to a sensory deprivation tank as I can get… besides they might broadcast it inside the sensory deprivation tank."

"You're a good woman, Lois. Have you told Jimmy you're pregnant yet?"

"Clark told you?" she screeched.

"No, he said something on Thursday night when he was about to go get you for dinner. He muttered something about flying in your state. You want decaf coffee, and you don't smell of cigarettes and expensive perfume."

Lex's attention caught on the screen. Clark was heading down to meet a car; Lex was talking to him via cell phone telling him to get his ass downstairs. When Clark asked why he wouldn't just come up to the dorm Lex responded, "You'll see." When Clark opened the door to the limo he saw a really pretty girl and Lex said, "Have fun on your date."

"I haven't told Jimmy, I don't… after last couple of times… I just want to make sure this one sticks, y'know? We were both so excited every time, and I don't want to do that to him again."

"I shouted at the computer last time. If you'd told us about the problem I would have done it earlier. But you weren't to know about the nefarious deal. I reminded it that it was supposed to give you happy lives. It doesn't get subtlety; it's nowhere near as human as it thinks it is. It believed children were simply progeny. Lara wouldn't have thought that. It can't think like we do. So I talked to it, explained things, threatened it. So you can tell Jimmy when you want. You ever going to get married?"

She laughed and faux gagged, "Hell no, we're going to have three kids, a hybrid car, a pet bird, but not a marriage certificate."

Clark and the girl were having fun, Lex remembered her, a daughter of a family friend. They went out to a nice dinner, discussed their majors, they danced.

Bruce came in with coffee and Lois sent Lex a warning look. He couldn't tell her cousin's husband while her baby's father didn't know. Lex drank his coffee quietly and held Martha's hand. People started to come in, earnestly apologizing to Lex about the situation. They kept squeezing his arm and smiling too brightly. After fifteen minutes Lex stood, excused himself, and pulled Lois out into the hall. "I know that you aren't smoking, but you have half a pack on you, right?" She pulled them out wordlessly. He took them with a grim smile.

Clark was walking the girl to her door and thanking her for a lovely evening. And then he was back in the limo telling the driver to take him to the penthouse.

He walked down the hall to the nurses' station. "The law says you can't smoke within four hundred yards of a hospital. But I also know that medical personnel have the highest amount of smokers per capita of any educated profession, so where do you smoke? Because, when you have a fifteen minute break you're not really going to waste it walking to the legal perimeter."

One man stood from behind the counter and said, "Let me show you."

Lex followed him saying, "Thank you, I know that you really shouldn't be showing me this."

"Mr. Luthor, if you want a cigarette I think you deserve one." He showed Lex a walled patio garden with metal garden furniture. He would have offered to sit with Lex, have a cigarette but he could see that the man was aching to be alone and so said, "I should get back."

"Of course, thank you again," Lex glanced at his name tag, "Max."

Clark was in the elevator with his keys and as he opened the door to the penthouse. "Lex, that was mean!" he called kicking off his shoes. Lex came to meet him wearing reading glasses.

"You're the one who wants to get married the moment you graduate college. I'm just pointing out that I'm really not your only choice. Stephanie is pretty, and clever, and witty. You have options, Clark."

"Lex, please, this is the eighth time you've done this to me. And they're all smart, motivated, young, attractive people. Basically, they're all pale shadows of you. So would you stop? I get it. I see what you're trying to say. I do: I'm young and bright and you're an ancient, used up, cold, mad, used-to-be-druggy. I get it. The message is received, torn up, and put down the disposal unit. Move on... are you hungry? I'm starving." Clark went past him to make pasta. "The next time you tell me to come down to the car because you can't come up I'm going to fly directly over here. I mean, there's no point. We go out, we talk, we have a nice time, I drop them off, and come back here. Now, if you're trying to get out of going on a date before you get laid we can do that. We'll cut out the preamble and just get to the part of the night where I make pasta, you make calls, and we make love until dawn. I'm really fine with that."

"I like dates with you," said Lex softly.

"Then stop sending strangers on our dates."

Max the nurse was walking back inside when he heard Bruce Wayne saying, "It's very kind of you all to come and show Lex your support, but you need to stop touching him. He doesn't do very well with touch. And he's stressed to his limits. While I know you're trying to be kind it would be much kinder of you not to offer him any sort of physical comfort."

A man walked in with a dog at his heals. "Sir, you can't-" Max started.

"I wasn't sure what I should do with him. We were at the groomers. Clark vomited on him this morning. They were trying to make him not reek and his fur was bright green. And then, well, there was that broadcast. Ignatius isn't supposed to stay at home alone. So I just came. I'm Jacob."

Max glanced towards Cheryl who said, "We'll write him off as a therapy dog."

"Let me show you where Mr. Luthor is," said Max. He walked straight back the way he'd come.

Jonathan Kent was so very thin, scared of another heart attack. He handed Lex a small box when they were alone. Inside was a pocket watch. "I know you aren't getting married yet. And I know I gave you one when you married that harpy. But if I ever need to give you another one I will kill you, bad heart or no."

Laughing softly Lex said. "You give out pocket watches for weddings, Jon. If I needed another, was marrying someone other than Clark, wouldn't you kill me first?"

"You were family long before you and Clark were together. As family you would merit a watch but then I would have to kill you for hurting my son." Lex laughed again and moved to hand back the box Jonathan stopped him. "You're not getting married for another two years but I'm not going to be there so you just keep the watch."

"What if Clark's the one who needs another wedding day watch?" asked Lex.

"Well then, he'll get his watch and then I'll have to kill him for hurting my son," he laughed, looked around his hospital room and said, "or haunt him."

"Jonathan-" Lex started.

"You aren't a liar, son, not when it matters. Don't start with a dying man."

Lex took Jonathan's hand gently and said, "Will you give Clark his watch?"

"No, I'll leave it Martha, for the big day. Lex? You will take care of them for me? I know you always have, but they're going to need you to be strong for them."

Lex shook his head, "You're wrong. I need to be strong with them. They are strong enough. This is natural if horrific, this something we all have to cope with and go through but I'll always be with them."

"How is he?" as Jacob as they walked.

"I think he's about to explode. He's having a cigarette."

"Oh God," muttered Jacob. They turned the corner to see Lex smoking his second cigarette. "Hey, Lex."

Lex didn't turn, "Hey, Jacob. I'm so glad you weren't there." Ignatius barked and Lex finally turned, "Hello, Ignatius." The huge dog put his paws on Lex's lap and rested his jaw on top of Lex's head. "You should have known my father-in-law, Jacob, you would have liked him." He buried his nose in the dog's fur. "Good dog. Who doesn't smell of vomit anymore? That's right: you don't smell of vomit." He breathed in slightly and turned his head to inhale a drag from his cigarette.

"Mrs. Little is still on Big Pine. She wasn't sure if you would want her here." Jacob nodded to Max who left quietly.

Ignatius put his paws back on the ground and put his head in Lex's lap. Lex pulled out his cell phone. "Mrs. Little, yeah… no, stay with Dave. You're supposed to be having a few days off with your son… No, honestly. Lois and Bruce are here, Chloe, Pete, and Jimmy are coming. It's just anxiety and sitting about… There's nothing to do here. It's just waiting… There's no point in being uncomfortable. Don't worry. No, there's nothing to do." He took a drag, "No, I'm not smoking… No… Mrs. Little, while I appreciate your concern I am a grown man."

On the screen he was crying and then Clark was walking into the room, Lex was covertly drying his eyes as he moved to tie Clark's tie. "Do you have the eulogy?" he asked softly and Clark nodded. The boy let out a sob and buried his face in Lex's neck.

"I can't do this," said Clark, "I can't bury my dad. I can't talk about his life. He's fifty-seven, Lex. I know he has a bad heart but this has to be some sick joke. I can't do this."

"You can," said Lex running his fingers through Clark's hair. "You can stand and tell them about your father."

He sighed, exhaled and continued raggedly into the phone, "You can't drive when they're broadcasting. Right, goodbye." Turning to Jacob he said, "You should go see your mom."

"When's Mrs. Little getting back?"

"Four hours after the surgery. She's going to go to the house and make sure everything's okay there. Damn it." He hit the table. The dog started back.

Jacob leaned down in front of him in his best non-imposing stance, which was hard as he stood at six seven. "Lex, I'm going to ask you to do something that either no one has thought of, or was stupid enough, or brave enough to ask. Please give me your gun and allow me to take it home." Lex looked at him like a scared animal and Jacob continued, "The state you're in, it's amazing no one has gotten shot yet. I know you have all the papers and permits to carry a concealed weapon. But, truthfully, I don't think you're in a place where you should have a gun. This is a hospital."

Lex reached into his jacket. "But then someone could attack."

"Everyone knows you 'pack heat'. They won't know that you've taken a different route today. No one will attack you. Besides, I heard on the radio coming over here that some reporter scum lost teeth earlier at your fist. So I think you're covered."

Mournfully handing the cigarette over, he said, "Don't smoke that: it's mine." He pulled the gun out from his shoulder holster and released the cartridge and put the weapon on the table in two pieces. Jacob handed back the cigarette. "Very good, Sir. The nursing staff is fine with Ignatius so I'll drop this off and come back. I'm also going to order food." He put up a hand to stop Lex from arguing. "It won't be anything highly scented, I know the very idea of food makes you sick right now but an army marches on its stomach and you have a lot of people with you."

"Right, good, thank you."

"It's no problem at all." Jacob exited silently. Lex sat smoking for another twenty minutes. Finally he walked back in with Ignatius at his side.

* * *

TBC


	7. Illness part two of two

Note: Because of the length of this section it has been posted in two halves. This is the second half.

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Title: Illness (part two)

Author: Azure K. Mello

Words: 13,495

Summery: Set four years after "Young and Beautiful" Clark is kidnapped, injured, and the whole thing is televised.

Clark's Age : 38

Note: This is the sixth in a series. If you haven't read the other parts you will miss some of the references.

Disclaimer: All things DC belong to various parties, individuals mentioned belong to themselves, other television shows and bands belong to various companies and people. No copy right infringement is intended, please don't sue.

* * *

Bruce stood up as he saw him and Lex said, "It's almost time, isn't it?"

Bruce wrinkled his nose, "Are you on fire?"

"Febreeze?" Lex requested of Lois who tossed a tiny bottle over to him. Lex sprayed himself liberally and threw it back. He sat down heavily next to Martha's bed. Ignatius pulled himself up onto Lex's lap, with half of his body on the bed. His two hundred and thirty pound body somehow made Lex feel lighter.

On screen Clark changed quickly from Superman to Clark Kent reporter, he got shouted at for a missed deadline. He had trouble getting home, keeps flickering between too fast and normal, stumbled a few times. In the kitchen he cooked pancakes, he changed into his WTR pants and turned on the cartoon network. Then his cell phone beeped and he sighed before super speeding into his suit, stubbing his toe, and flying out the window. Lex came home, ate the now cold pancakes, and paced in front of the TV, now set to news, he watched the news when Clark flew into a well and pulled out a little girl. He tripped slightly as he carried her out and Lex muttered, "I fucking hate sunspots. Why he even doing this? He knows everything's on the fritz but god forbid he gets someone else to cover it. I hate the goddamn cell phone. Because when it goes off screw everything else, a fuck the Justice League because it's solely his responsibility." He sighed and talked at the TV, "Just come home, you've done your bit, now come home."

Then it changed to Clark trying to climb silently into bed, He pushed Ignatius over slightly. Lex had his gun drawn instantly. "It's me," said Clark, "I'm home."

"You've been gone for ten days," said Lex. "What's the point of an amazing cell phone with global coverage if you don't use it? The news hasn't been helpful. No one can get out there and I didn't know if you were alright."

Clark tiredly shook his head. "Thousands of people are dead. I don't know why the AI didn't pick up on a landslide of that magnitude. It was so fast. And it won't stop raining. They're under mud and no one knows who's alive. They could be still alive but their under thick packed mud. And it's all lead. There is so much lead in that soil and I can't help any of them… I can't see them or hear them. There was a school yard." He dropped his head into his hands, shoulders shaking. "I dug it all up. There were just dozen of tiny bodies. Twenty miles have just been wiped off the map. We've found a couple of hundred survivors over fifteen thousand people are still unaccounted for." He just sat, sobbing into his hands. "John sent me home. I haven't slept since I left home but all those people, Lex, they're all just dead. And I can't do anything."

There was nothing for Lex to say so instead he started stripping off Clark's very soiled clothes and pulling him under the covers, "You just need to sleep now, in a couple of days you can go back if there's anything left to be done but right now, trust that your friends have this covered as much as it can possibly be covered. You need some sleep."

Clark nodded and burrowed into Lex's side, asleep in moments.

Lana was looking at him saying, "You didn't tell me because you think you killed my parents?"

"I did kill your parents. I was the cause of the meteor shower. I just I felt you needed to know. We didn't not work out because of me being with Lex. I lied to you for years. I killed your parents."

"You were a baby, Clark… I can't believe you didn't trust me… I just… I need a little time. "

It showed Pete's anger, Chloe's excitement. And then it flashed later to Lois' apartment. Clark was flying through her window in full costume. "Ms. Lane."

She blushed slightly, "Hi, um, do you want something to drink… or something? Please, call me Lois."

"I'm fine, Lois."

She laughed nervously and said, "I guess we should just do this then. Why did you now agree to an interview?"

"People have wanted me to do one for quite some time. I've been actually shouted at for not being more forthcoming… I don't want to do this but I feel the only way to have this stop is to do just one and it will have to suffice. I don't want my personal life on record. It's not for public consumption."

"Well why did you want to do this with me? I'm grateful but I mean… I'm not well known. And outside of the three times you've had to come to my rescue we've never spoken."

Superman studied her before saying, "You are a fair and honest, if not brutal, reporter. I just want someone who won't distort this. Besides, I think it's time you get a real byline."

Her blush deepened at his compliment and she accidentally knocked her note cards off the table. "Oh god." She started to collect them but they were out of order. "I guess, um, god. Where are you from?"

"Krypton."

"Is that a country?" and then she blinked at her own stupid question. She was supposed to be good at follow ups.

"It's a planet, was a planet. It exploded."

"I'm so sorry." She was still nervously playing with her cards. "Do you miss it?"

He sniffed, thought about how to answer and said, "Lois, I could do something right now that could either make this a lot easier or cause you to kick me out."

"I don't drink while on the job."

He laughed, "It's not that. You're just very nervous and I could put an end to it."

"Okay," she agreed already mortified at her actions thus far.

He pulled a pair of horn rimmed glasses out from under his cape and put them on. He looked at her full on and said, "Hey, Lois."

She started hitting him hard. "Clark? Clark! You're Superman?"

"Yeah." He pulled the useless glasses back off.

"And you've been letting me cream myself for months over him? God!"

"That is a disgusting expression. Stop hitting me."

"Why? You're Superman; it can't hurt. All this time. God!"

"Does it make you feel better to know that you've kicked Superman out of his own bed every time you stayed at his parents' house?"

"No! Does Lex know? He's been trying to kill you!"

"Lois, someone as clever as Lex doesn't try to kill anyone he would just do it. He knows, Chloe knows, Pete knows, Lana knows, all of the Justice League knows, Perry White knows. You're the last."

Her face fell, "Why am I the last?"

He sighed sadly, "Because you're a reporter. Chloe knew well before any of us were published. Perry White knew when I was a kid. I didn't… I know I should have trusted you. Ever since I found out I've been told that if anyone knew they would… you're a good reporter. I'm sorry it took me so long. I thought maybe you knew. I mean, I thought you'd notice that suddenly I became this dorky guy who couldn't get a story and wore really ugly suits and glasses."

"You've never had any fashion sense." He started to laugh but went somber as she didn't join him. "Clark, I will keep your secret, I will go to work tomorrow, but right now, I want you to leave."

"What about your story? This is supposed to get you a byline."

Looking at him she said, "Superman isn't even real. Get out."

The image blinked out and black for a moment. Lex sat up slightly straighter. "I do not want to watch this," said Lex softly.

"Sleeping pills, ear plugs, and a face mask?" offered Lois but she was quiet. Lex reached out to pat her shoulder gently. He tried to comfort her even as he was falling to pieces.

"No, I need to watch, we need to know what they did so we can undo it." So he sat silently watching as the weird aliens led Clark into the room.

Clark was green, not ill looking, literally green. He was listless, his sweat and extremities were green, and he was whimpering softly. The creatures pushed him onto a slab of kryptonite and Clark moaned flinching back. He tried to get away while still sitting on it. They forced him to put his hands palm down on the surface. "Please let me go home, please. I just wanna go home. I won't be Superman if you don't want me to. You don't need to do this; you don't need to hurt me. I'll do what you want. Please."

"Kal-El, we aren't trying to stop you from being Superman. You will still have your abilities. It will take a few weeks to adjust. We are simply externalizing the pain. People need to see what you go through and you will not be able to cover it after this."

"But it already hurts."

"Have you ever enjoyed being this way? Saving the world?" Clark just sat there, not answering. "Kal-El," the tone was inhuman but still recognizable as a reprimand.

"No. Smallville just had so much trouble and it was always hurting the people I cared about. So I had to do it. It didn't matter if it hurt. It needed to be done. And then…"

"And then your actions caused Martha Kent to miscarriage, and you did all those awful things while drugged to ignore your actions."

"People sometimes need help that can't be given in normal ways. And it's my responsibility."

"So answer the question. Do you enjoy what you do?"

"I like running fast, I love flying. I hate the attention, I hate the recognition, I hate pain of it. But, I mean, sometimes people need help. And I like it when it doesn't hurt or if no one really notices. On the whole, I don't like being Superman."

"So, it wouldn't be so awful."

"I need to be able to do it."

"We know, we understand. They need to see." One of the creatures pushed Clark down. He fought with the strength of a child. "This is tempered. It won't hurt as such; it will just make it so you can't hide the pain you already feel."

They strapped him down tight and Clark was moaning, trying to get away from the meteorite. And then they pulled out green tinted instruments. A humming noise started and they began cutting lines into Clark. Clark screamed and screamed. It didn't sound like it was television, Clark was in the room, the _scream_ was in the room.

Bruce put his hand on Lex's shoulder and Lex slapped it away hard. He didn't want anyone touching him, not even Bruce. All he wanted was for Clark to be away from these aliens. He wouldn't even need Clark by him. He didn't need to ever see or touch Clark ever again if he could just get him away. The cutting went on forever. Lex was vaguely aware of Martha waking up, hearing her voice and Bruce's explanations, but he was nowhere near them. He just watched the screen. The cuts were precise and slow. The people were so careful and seemed completely unaware of Clark's screams.

After several hours they pulled out new instruments. Lex recognized them as bone saws. He didn't blink as they carved into Clark's bones, splitting them down to the marrow. A boiling pot of liquid kryptonite was wheeled into the room. As bad as the screaming before it became worse. It turned into one not of pain and horror but grief and fear. From the scream Lex could tell that Clark believed that he was going to die. They splinted the carved bones open and poured the liquid in. Clark screamed and screamed.

Ignatius' howls joined the noise but Lex didn't hush him: he couldn't find his voice to do so. Instead, he pulled the dog more firmly into his lap. Holding the nearly feral creature to his chest his fingers tightened in Ignatius' fur. Lex felt like screaming too, and so it was as though the dog was howling for them both.

One of the creatures said, "Stop it, Kal-El. Stop being foolish, it's tempered. It won't kill you. In a few weeks it will not hurt. Be calm."

But Clark couldn't stop screaming. The liquid started to solidify and they slid solid bolts into the mixture and replaced the bones. They ran some sort of a scanner over the bones which re-solidified. They replaced the flesh and ran the scanner over the skin. The bolts stood proud of Clark's body.

"It will need several hours to solidify. We are leaving you now." They exited the room, leaving Clark strapped down. And Clark kept screaming for hours. As time went by it tapered off and he was just moaning, dry sobbing. After hours of whimpers he said, in a rough, small voice, "Please let me go home. Please, I need Lex." He seemed to drift, into the pain, away from the situation. He just kept repeating Lex's name.

Lex just sat, watching the new images. Clark was decorating his dorm room at top speed. Pete came in and grimaced, "Really, Clark? You're not even going to be here most of the time. Why do I have to look at Lifehouse and Josh Kelly posters?"

Smiling widely Clark said, "Lex wants me to actually live here; he says it's important to my development as a person to catch foot fungus off of communal showers."

Pete snorted, "Two weeks –max- and you'll be in one another's back pockets."

"And when that happens you can take down my posters and use the pent house's shower."

Laughing Pete said, "You and him, you're for keeps?"

Clark groaned, "Can we skip the 'Lex Luthor is his father's son' speech. You don't like him; I know."

"He's growing on me… a bit like foot fungus. But just… gimme time, Clark. He's important to you so I guess I need to get over it and accept that he has to be important to me too." He then tugged at a corner of a blue thing in one of Clark's boxes and pulled out the Superman costume. "Seriously?" he laughed. "I can't wait to see Lana's face when she sees you in this get up. The girls will make fun of you."

"Bite me," Clark laughed.

"Lex," Martha called softly. He shook his head leaving the dorm and the young boys he saw there. She didn't touch him.

"I'm sorry, Martha."

"Why don't you let J'onn put you out?"

Lex looked around and realized that Jimmy, Chloe, and Pete had arrived. Lana wasn't there yet and Lex vaguely wondered why. "Martha," he repeated as the screen changed to Lois on a cell phone. It was about a month after Clark had told her the truth.

"Clark, don't be late. You know that every time you run out on a Thursday night dinner it gets awkward. He's a great guy and all but we're not friends. You can't skip, I'm glad I'm getting to know him but don't you dare leave for some puppy with a broken paw in Nepal."

Lex let his head slump against Martha's pillow. "The hospital wants to keep me here longer. This is going to be played repeatedly. You need sleep; you need to be turned off. Let J'onn put you out."

Lex swallowed. "Okay," he nodded but didn't move. J'onn walked up to him, shooed Ignatius off of Lex's lap, and touched the man's forehead. Lex instantly slumped forward. The dog growled at J'onn as the Martian picked Lex up and placed him on the other bed in the room. He nodded to Ignatius who leapt onto the bed and curled around his master. J'onn reached out to stroke the dog who lifted his head and growled. J'onn nodded and stepped away.

The screen reset itself to the first conversation. Martha was the only one who hadn't seen Lex's audience with the creatures. She watched in silence. Chloe moved to her bed and took her hand. "My poor boys," she said as she pulled Chloe more firmly onto the bed. On the large screen, Lex fell to pieces. Martha could tell that he was doing his best not to let it show but she could see his seams tearing. She looked over to Lex's bed. Ignatius was growling low in his chest.

Bruce stood and said, "If he will permit it would you allow me to take Ignatius for a walk?"

Neither the man nor the dog was very good at staying still. Bruce could be a statue for hours but only while wearing a cowl, and though Ignatius had been at his master's side since the afternoon he usually couldn't stay put for more than twenty minutes. Martha gave him a weak smile, "If he'll let you."

Bruce picked up a leash that Jacob had dropped in the corner. The dog growled as Bruce approached. "Nat," Bruce said harshly. The dog lowered his head, licked Lex up the jaw, and jumped off the bed to stand obediently at Bruce's side. "Good dog." As they walked out Bruce and Ignatius both shook their tightened joints loose.

Nodding to the nursing staff Bruce started to pick up speed. By the time they got to the doors the pair was flat out running. Through the streets of Key West they ran as though chased. And after a good hour they both slowed. Bruce bought two bottles of water off a street vender and sat down in a park. One bottle was poured out in a puddle for the dog. Bruce found an area that had signs showing a dog off a lead. He let Ignatius go but the screens were everywhere, back to Clark burning popcorn. Trailing the dog Bruce picked up his waste to throw it away and it seemed pretty appropriate, Clark was tortured, he couldn't help Lex, Batman was useless in the situation; all he could do was pick up shit. They walked back to the hospital more slowly and as they went Bruce talked.

"Nat, I know you aren't happy. I know you don't want people near Lex. But even with those givens, you need to be polite to J'onn. I know you aren't racist but he's a little sensitive, and none of those people back there wanted his help 'til they saw what he'd done for Martha, so the scab has been picked. When we get back in there you need to be polite, he's under as much strain as the rest of us."

The alien screen nearest him flickered and Bruce stopped, waiting for a new horror. Instead one of the aliens appeared and said, "John Stewart, we will not be upset if you disable the broadcast where you are. You do not have to watch this, your education is complete. Mrs. Kent has seen what was necessary for her." Bruce knew that to mean all the comments about the miscarriage. The loop was about to hit Clark being tortured. "The Justice League and the chosen family of Kal-El may disable our program. If you attempt to turn it off for anyone else there will be consequences… Yes, Lana Ross and the Wayne household too… Kal-El will not need to watch it, no." Bruce picked up his speed and jogged back to the hospital.

By the time he got back to the hospital Clark was screaming on the screens. Inside he raced towards Martha's room. The door shut behind him and there was blessed silence. "Thank God."

"You're welcome," said John Stewart putting down a small handheld disrupter charge. It was covered in dials and had obviously been mocked up quickly.

Martha gave him a weary smile, "Is it raining?"

"No, we were running." Lex was still asleep but he kept moving. Lex never moved when asleep. It was always as though his subconscious thought he would be safer if he was still. "How are you doing?"

She gave him another, weaker smile. "We're okay."

Bruce let Ignatius off the leash. And the dog went to J'onn and nudged against his legs. J'onn reached down to stroke his head so Ignatius obliged by licking the hand vigorously. Once he was finished, Ignatius climbed back on top of Lex. Martha was still obviously in pain, and quiet medicated; she drifted off not long after John had disabled the screen. John and J'onn left to check in with Alfred, the planes that were filled with Clark's family, and return to the Tower to see if there was anything to be done while the other went into an empty room down the hall where Bruce turned off the screen using the machine John had left.

Chloe settled against Bruce, Jimmy against Lois, Pete settled into himself. "What are we going to do?" asked Lois.

Turning to Bruce, Chloe asked, "Did you know he felt pain?" Bruce just shook his head, pulling his wife closer to him.

"Lex did," muttered Pete.

Bruce leveled him with a warning look. "Don't you dare, Pete. If Lana had a secret like this would you have told anyone? Lex is in the other room practically in a coma because he can't deal with this. He's being torn apart. It wasn't his secret to tell. The onus of truth was on Clark."

"Lana and the boys. How are they?" asked Chloe.

"They're good," said Pete. He wasn't looking at Bruce. "They're in Washington; we figured it would be hard enough without a seven and five year-old underfoot. Same with Cecily?" She nodded.

They sat in silence, drinking coffee. There was a veritable feast laid out in the waiting room but while families of the wounded guards had picked at it, none of Clark's family could face the idea of food. Eight hours later Lex walked into the room carrying cake. He sat down, ate methodically, and finally once his plate was clean he said, "I love this quite. When did it start?"

"About two hour after J'onn knocked you out," replied Lois.

"Who did it?"

"John Stewart."

"Thank Christ for that."

"How can you eat?" asked Pete.

Lex shrugged, not angry, just tired. "I've been worrying about Clark every minute for every day for the last twenty-two years. And considering he's thirty-eight… forty-one… thirty-eight that's a long time. Yet I can't even process this. I never thought our important memories would be on display for everyone. And even with the copious amount of worrying I have done I never thought that our lives would be this exposed. Sure they've seen Clark hurt seen all of us waiting in terror but not like this. I never really considered nightmare like aliens taking him out of our universe and performing horrific surgery on him while he was awake. So I'm going to eat cake, at least one more slice. Because if I don't eat cake, don't distract myself somehow, I'm going to kill someone. Not with the gun that Jacob sensibly took off me… No, I'm going to punch someone in the face until they no longer have a face. Then I'll go wild in the NICU by drop kicking babies. So after another slice of cake, and a few cigarettes, I'm going to take the sleeping pills Lois so kindly offered me earlier, and knock myself out again. Because even though Martha will be awake soon and I should be at her beckoned call, be the good son-in-law I endeavor to be, I am about to rip this place apart."

He stood and started to exit and Bruce held out John Stewart's device. "Turn this dial while pressing the green button." Lex nodded and left. To Pete Bruce said, "You need to stop talking. I know you don't mean to but you just keep exacerbating the problem." Pete nodded.

When Martha woke up they were all still sitting about. She came in with an IV drip on a pole, a slight limp, and a large sandwich and salad. Looking around she asked, "Have any of you eaten?" Bruce just shook his head. "You should. Even if you feel ill at the thought, food will make you feel better… and it's something to do. It will take your mind off of everything." She ate slowly and asked, "Is Lex still out from J'onn or did he knock himself out?"

Bruce grimaced, "Sleeping pills."

"Good for him." Martha saw the slight arch of Chloe's eyebrow and said, "The only thing worse than this situation is having this situation _and_ watching Lex systematically shut down while trying to be useful. Has he killed anyone yet?"

"No," said Bruce slowly, "but he did smash in a few photographers' faces. Gushing blood and lost teeth, but he hasn't actually killed anyone."

Martha nodded, continued to eat. And when she was done she asked, "When are we allowed to go home?"

"When J'onn says it's okay," said Lois.

Martha looked at her, studied her face, took in her newly poor complexion, and smiled suddenly, but Lois shook her head. Still smiling Martha said, "Is he here?"

"No, but he can be here in moments," said Bruce. His eyes unfocused and J'onn materialized.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked, he was holding one of his scanners and Martha nodded, struggled to stand, J'onn went to her, "Don't stand. You're abdomen must still be sore."

"Yeah," she agreed.

J'onn silently ran the scan and said. "I'll need them to up your codeine, give you a supply of oral meds, but then we can send you home. I'm just going to go talk to your doctor." He came back a few moments later with a small bottle of pills, "Three days' supply, Ms. Graves is sending cars for the families. Flash will drive their cars back from the house. We may go. Bruce will you carry Lex? I will assist Mrs. Kent." J'onn picked up Martha saying, "You shouldn't be walking for a couple of days."

They went back to the house. All signs of the break-in and violence were gone. After disabling the screens they all went to bed, tried to sleep. Over the next few days the air was tense. They all did abundant amounts of work to keep their minds off it, they ate, worked out, found ways to avoid the subject. Lex didn't talk much, but he didn't glom, he was just quiet and withdrawn. Lana dropped the boys off with her aunt and flew down the day before Clark was meant to get back. It felt like old, unhappy times, but familiar.

At four in the morning, on what they had been told would be their last day of waiting, Martha woke to hear clanging noises. She recognized the noise as an egg beater against a metal bowl. Pulling on a robe she left her bed and went down to the kitchen. She saw Lex standing in the mostly dark room beating a mixture in a bowl.

At first she thought he was sleep walking and said softly, "Lex?"

He turned alert and obviously conscious. "Did I wake you?"

"No, I woke up and heard you. Lex, you were cooking at seven o'clock. What are you doing? Have you slept?"

He held out the bowl, "I'm making custard, mixing before I put on the heat."

"You don't like custard."

"Martha, I am about to sound insane. Please don't condescend and act like what I say is normal. Clark likes custard. And what if, in a few hours time, he walks through that door perfectly fine and hungry? What if he's almost okay and his being hungry is more important than removing the kryptonite? I know that's wishful thinking and stupid. But the AI is already calculating how to reverse the surgery so I'm going to bake jalapeño fig bread and whip some cream."

She nodded and went to the sink to wash her hands. "Once we're done with those we'll make a berry salad. Then if we're still alone down here we can make breakfast for everyone."

Together they cooked in silence for hours. Lex pulled a tray of corn muffins out of the oven with a mitt and finally she said, "Lex, I don't want to do this to you-"

He looked at the protective mitten and said, "No, Martha, pulling a hot tray out of the oven doesn't hurt him. Nothing he does really hurts him, a lot of things that used to hurt, don't. He doesn't even notice gun shots anymore. He loves flying, and running. It's things like getting beaten up by other super heroes that hurt. That sort of brings him back to our level. Things that would rip another to pieces ache really badly. If a building falls on him he hurts for a while, a few days, like if you or I had a bad concussion. The hearing its self doesn't hurt: it's what he hears. He has all the human nerves, he feels it if he stubs his toe but that sort of thing doesn't hurt. The kryptonite seems to get worse as he gets stronger but he's also more capable of coping with the pain. You haven't failed him. It's a mother's job to worry about her son. And it's her son's job to try and avoid his mother's worries."

She wrapped her arms around him and he turned into the hug and dropped his head onto her shoulder. "It's not your fault he became Superman. He knows you don't blame or hate him for the miscarriage. But that doesn't stop him from being responsible, he feels he's responsible. He tried to destroy the ship and the feedback wave killed his unborn sibling, that's just fact. He doesn't care that it was an accident. Moreover, the things that happened afterwards were his fault, it doesn't matter that he was doped on red K, he decided to wear that ring.

"While your miscarriage could arguably not be his fault the things that happened afterwards were. While we have forgiven and moved past that time he has not. And if it hadn't been for that something else would have happened. We all feel guilt and remorse over past actions but he feels it more. So please, put it out of your mind that you are in anyway responsible for this mess… I once told him I thought he would be a superhero some day, that I hoped he wouldn't but seemed inevitable. I wish I could take those words back. But the past is gone. So right now, we cook."

By the time the others were waking up there was a three course breakfast on the table. It was a more impressive spread than the one which had been laid out at LLC only days before. People came down one by one, grabbing coffee, and then sitting at the table to work through the food.

After a little while Lex said, "We need more coffee. I'm going out." He was in the silk sweat pants he'd worn the night before while trying to sleep and a t-shirt that had some cooking stains. Upstairs he grabbed a pair of ear plugs and pulled on running shoes. In the kitchen Ignatius tried to follow him out but Lex said, "Stay, stay, he's all over to streets. You shouldn't have to see Clark in pain again, stay."

He opened the backdoor and started running, ignoring the screens, flat out. By the time he got to the store he was dripping in sweat. Inside he quickly scanned the shelves and found the coffee Clark liked, fair trade, shade grown, organic. It wasn't very good coffee. Lex had suggested buying good coffee but sending money directly to the farmers of Clark's choice. But Clark had raised an eyebrow and said, "Lex to make the system work you have to actually work within the system. Buy whatever coffee you like; I'm going to keep drinking this weak crap."

Lex went to the pharmacist and gave her a tight smile as he took out the ear plugs. Clark was putting up posters in his dorm. "Hello, Linda. I put out my back a few years ago and had a script for Percocet. It still has two refills on it. It's on your records. I know that the refill dates have long since expired. But is there any way, any loop hole, which can get it refilled?"

She thought and then said, "No, but I can call your doctor and he can tell me to fill one for Clark."

"Thank you." She went to phone to doctor and Lex replaced the ear plugs. There were even screens in the store and Lex kept his eyes on the counter.

When she came back she handed him a bottle of sixty and said that with Clark's digestion rate he could take one every two hours. Lex thanked her, paid, and left.

As he ran he kept his eyes down. He could feel other's gaze upon him and he didn't want to meet their eyes. It was true: he didn't care what others thought of Lex Luthor. But he did care about what people thought of him, of Lex, that mattered. The people he let close to him knew him beyond his cold exterior and respected him for who he was. But now the whole world, literally, the whole damn world had seen him fraying at the seams. Crying for his dead father-in-law-to-be. They had watched him as those alien bastards had talked of his mother and Julian, of the surgery, of his fears. He did not want to know what they now thought of him. But he felt the change in the air, felt the sudden tenseness of the people on the street.

Looking up he saw something small and distant falling. It was so high in the sky, but it was falling slowly, too slowly to actually be natural. With sudden clarity Lex knew exactly what it was, estimated where it would land, and took off faster. As he reached the spot he looked up, braced himself and caught Clark as he fell. Clark was moving at about fifteen miles an hour. Clark's head was going to hit the ground hard. It didn't seem all that fast but Lex was pushed into the pavement as he caught him. But then Clark was there, in his arms, kissing him hard with tongue and groping. And Lex didn't care that people were watching, that those damned screens were broadcasting their reunion to the world. He had his boy in his arms.

As Clark broke away he pulled Lex close and said, "I thought I was never going to see you again."

"Of course you would; you're a bad penny," replied Lex. He was stroking Clark's hair gently and he said softly, "You smell awful, and you're very, very green, a pale hunter green."

"Hey, at least I'm not vomiting anymore."

"True. You're never allowed to get kidnapped ever again. How do you feel?"

"Kinda worse than I have ever felt in my life, like ever. Everything hurts, and it's weighing me down, and all of my powers are on the fritz. They work, which is weird, but they keep coming on and shorting out, and it hurts. It feels like fire working its way out with sudden bursts of nerve rendering pain. This is worse than even the scarecrow incident. Which was possibly the worst thing ever because I was conscious for hours and hours."

Lex heard a noise and turned to see that the screens had spilt, on one side they were now showing Whitney and the football team beating Clark up, putting Lana's necklace around his neck, and tying him to the post. Clark felt Lex tense and he said, "He didn't mean it, Lex. It was freshman hazing. They didn't know it could kill me."

"I know, baby. Let's get you home. You were on that post for three hours; I don't think you need to watch this. You can't walk, can you?"

"I don't think so. I could stand, does that help?"

"Yeah, I can carry you home."

Clark started to stand but Lex couldn't. As he tried to move upwards he felt a slick slipping within his legs and was back on the ground. Looking down at his legs Lex finally realized what the rest of the planet had already noticed. His legs were shattered to hell; shards of bone were poking out through his skin in different directions. Clark said, "Maybe you shouldn't have caught me."

"You were going to smash your head open and break your neck. Besides, I can't feel it, too much adrenaline."

Clark looked at him for a long pause, shook his head and said, "This is going to sound ridiculous but I'm starving."

"Well, also ridiculously, I was up all night cooking."

"Is Mom okay? Because those weird faced creeps shot her, and some others, I didn't really see who."

"They're all okay. Martha cooked too."

"Is there lots of food? They said it was going to take a couple of weeks to feel okay, and I just want to stay on the couch."

"You aren't waiting this out."

Panic swept over Clark's face, "You think I should start right back?"

"No!" Lex was horrified he stroked his husband's forehead. "What the hell did they do to you? No, we're going to take care of this."

"Oh… okay."

Lex kept stroking Clark's hair, even though he knew it couldn't actually stop Clark from being in pain. "There's tons of food, so we're going home, you're eating, and we're going to the Fortress, it's going to undo this as painlessly as possible. We just need to get you home and then we're off. We need the cavalry." He pulled out his cell and hit the third speed dial. "Yeah. Hi… Yeah, okay… they were being dicks but they didn't mean to kill him… They were in high school, J'onn… Whitney was actually quite a nice boy in the end… yeah, thanks." He hung up and said, "Lantern's coming here, Wonder Woman's in the Javelin on the way to the house. Lantern will be here in a few minutes."

"I don't care if it hurts, if we can get it out, that's good."

"It won't hurt that badly, I promise, it'll be alright."

"You're legs are worrying."

"They're starting to itch." Lex looked at his legs; they were shattered well above his knees. Clark slumped down and slouched into himself.

Quite a crowd had surrounded them and a woman walked out. "Excuse me, I'm an orthopedic surgeon."

Clark instantly tensed. That, coupled with the noises of Clark tied to a post being slowly poisoned, made Lex edgy. Lex was fast on the draw and had his gun almost instantly trained on her. "Miss, that may be true and you might be trying to help. But, if you don't get back into the crowd, I will shoot to maim. I'm genuinely sorry about pointing this gun at you. I know how frightening it is to be drawn upon. You aren't to come near him. Do you understand?" She moved back with her hands out in front of her. "Thank you. I'm sorry if you're trying to help. You need to keep back. All of you." He kept his gun trained on the crowd and said, "Clark, please calm down."

"I think that should go for you too," said John Stewart as he floated to the ground. Lex had the gun trained on him. "Is there a way to help you without getting shot?" asked John, very calmly.

Lex thought and said finally, "Can you do something about my legs?"

John looked at them and said, "I could make them disappear, give you another pair for a while."

"That'll work," Lex nodded and then braced himself for pain. Pain never came; instead he felt a tingling and his legs were suddenly replaced with clear green ones. "Thank you." He replaced his gun in the holster and stood quickly. He looked at the shopping in his hand and then held it out to John, "Could you maybe carry this?"

John nodded and took it off him. He wasn't talking, was trying to be unobtrusive but stayed close incase his friends needed help. Lex picked Clark up easily. He carried his boy through the streets without taking his eyes off Clark. He realized he was pressing into one of the bolts. "Am I hurting you?"

"Not really. It's like a paper cut on top of a third degree burn, don't worry about it."

Lex moved his hand, "I will worry about it. It's my job to worry when you won't."

"They made me watch your interview and everything else. Sometimes you should stop worrying. If you had hair it would be grey. And I'm sorry about the lack of a cure for cancer. I can't believe you make all the Superman crap."

"It's your retirement money. They sell for five dollars, they cost three dollars to produce, a dollar goes to children homes, and a dollar goes to you." He kissed Clark's forehead and laughed, "You really do reek."

Clark curled closer to Lex and said, "There's a lot to talk about. You lied to me."

"Yes," agreed Lex. "Right now I'm just glad you're here. Let's do it once we're off live TV. We'll talk about it. Alright?" He held Clark close while trying not to put too much pressure on any one point. The house came into view and Lex said, "Home now."

Martha was out the door like a shot and kissing Clark's head and crying on him. Lex stood there, smiling at them both as he held Clark and Clark held Martha saying, "Hi, Mom. Are you okay?"

She dragged them both inside and sighed as she looked at the screens. "They came back when you fell. We can't turn them off."

They went directly into the kitchen where Lex put Clark down on a stool. He pulled out a plate and said, "What do you want?"

Clark looked around and said, "Did you cook everything I like?"

At first he considered lying but said, "Yes, we did." He piled a plate high with food and said, "Wonder Woman will be here soon." He took the bag off of John with a nod and pulled out the bottle of pills, "One every two hours, should make it a bit more bearable until we fix this." To John he said, "What would you like? We have everything."

The room was suddenly filled with people, hugging Clark, Chloe and Pete were both crying, Ignatius was licking him. And Clark was relaxing into a hug from Bruce. Lana was hanging back watching the screens, watching what Whitney had done to him. "Lana," Clark said softly.

"He was a good man in the end right?"

"No, he wasn't," said Clark. Lana looked shocked but then trained her face, after all, Clark was being tortured on the screen. He continued, "He was a good and kind boy but he never had the opportunity to be a good man. He was dead before his nineteenth birthday because of an unjust war. He wasn't trying to hurt me, just humiliate me into not pining over his girlfriend." He reached for her and she moved into his arms. "He wasn't cruel: he was a teenager." He gently stroked her hair, his hands hurt as he flexed them and it was written all over his face but he did it.

"I thought Superman didn't have opinions on human wars." Bruce meant it as a joke but he saw Clark blanch farther.

"Am I going to get deported?"

Bruce raised his eyebrow, "Is that a joke?"

"I mean, I shouldn't have said that, right? The government still says we won. And I'm an illegal alien. A very alien illegal alien. And I vote all the time. The only really notable thing I ever wrote on the staff of The Planet was about a politician. I did it because I thought it was important because I thought people should know. Did I have that right? And when the government figures it out, thinks of this, are they going to send me away?"

"You realize that if they didn't think of it before, you just told them, right?" asked Bruce.

Pete rolled his eyes at Bruce and then leaned down to be at eye line with Clark. "Clark, listen to me now. I'm not speaking as your friend I'm Senator Ross. They're not going to deport you. Forget ideals or platitudes. Nineteen years ago, when you started doing your thing the president announced that the superhero was real and he spoke with a Midwestern accent. At that point Batman was running around being a vigilantly. Flash looked like a punk. They branded GL as a thug with a ring. And the very first thing you did was super speed a family out of a crashed car before it blew up. You didn't stop a crime or beat someone up you just saved lives after a faultless accident. The first picture the public saw of you in the silly costume you were crouching while holding and protecting a three month old baby from the fire bomb that was framing you heroically. That was the first time the press had to show a superhero in a good light. The world now looks to you.

"If America throws you out the country it is going to look like they really don't care about good people. Forget whether or not the government likes you, pragmatically they cannot say they don't want Superman. So you're from another planet, you have a fake American birth certificate and forged adoption papers, and you maybe shouldn't be voting? Ok. But. You run around in Levi's and Hanes t-shirts, you drive a Chevy that you run on biodiesel, and announce after averting awful situations all over the world that you're going home to America while flashing your prefect white corn-fed toothy smile. You're all organic everything, fair-trade, no sweatshop wearing, your house is run on solar-water-air power. Clark, you're one of very few who does that. And yeah, you're rich enough to do that while most people can't but that doesn't negate the fact that you do it.

"They aren't going to kick out the guy who makes America look good. And maybe they don't like the fact that you vote but they're never going to question it. Because, if they kicked you out, the government, myself included, would look like the most hypocritical dirt bags on Earth."

"You're a very good orator, Pete," said Clark.

"I won two senatorial elections. Plus, it helped that my platform wasn't 'Truth, Justice, and some other stuff'."

Clark finally laughed. And held up the pan of bread, "Want some jalapeño fig bread? It's the good kind of 'other stuff'."

"Actually it's disgusting but I will support your right as an American to eat it."

"I like it," said Bruce, "you just need the right proportions of whipped cream and custard on top and then it's great."

Clark heard the noise that no one else heard and he winced. "Oh, I hate this new hearing thing, the Javelin is forty miles away. Oh, this blows. Why do I have to hear that? That's not useful at all." Several people started packing up the food, they weren't sure how long they would be at the Fortress but they had all taken notes from the Luthor-Kent handbook and decided eating was a good way of procrastinating.

Lex looked towards the screen. He didn't want to do this now, but he had to say something, and then he whispered directly into Clark's ear, "Stop thinking about what the nightmare fodder faces told you. You never would have even considered deportation. I know they said it was an education but I think that's bullshit. I think they were trying to frighten you. I would never have wanted you to go out in all this pain and they somehow made you think that it was a possibility. So please, baby, shut that out. You are mine, and you are good, and you're human and deserve the rights of one." He kissed Clark's ear and pulled away.

After blinking a few times Clark leaned in and whispered, "Lex, you're freaking me out. You lied through your teeth when told me the AI wouldn't let you be normal. While I'm sure there's an explanation, right now, I don't fully trust you. I love you and we're not supposed to lie to each other." Clark kissed Lex's ear and lingered, "You know I love you. I'm not angry; I'm just freaked out."

Lex turned and whispered, "You're worst fear is everyone dying and you being alone. I could stop that, it didn't matter that I was freaked out, and I couldn't make you feel guilty for it. So I lied through my teeth. You would have done the same for me. So, I'm sorry but I would do it again and I would lie again. Because this isn't your fault but you would have blamed yourself if you knew I had a choice and I chose the option that benefited the team over the one. So don't blame yourself, and don't regret that things are the way they are. It might not be perfect, but I get you for the rest of our lives. Maybe, knowing that, you should be pleased that I had a choice. It's not something you dragged me into. I'm sorry I lied, be angry if you like, but don't be confused. I always want the best for you. So, please, stop thinking about it." Out loud he said, "Okay?"

"I'll try," Clark nodded and then Diana walked into the room.

"Your fence just scanned my eye, my palm, my voice, and required a strand of my hair for DNA analysis. It then informed me that I need to eat more leafy greens and finally let me in."

"Yeah, sorry," said Lex, "new security. I had it put up two days ago. I'm trying to turn off the personal comments without compromising the safety." He started handing her boxes of food. "We ready to go?" he asked Clark who nodded and Lex picked him up again. Though Clark could use his hands and pick up small things there was no way he was capable of supporting his weight and walking. The twelve of them including the dog tramped out to the yard. The Javelin was just outside the fence. Down at the security house at the mouth of the driveway there were dozens of reporters who were suddenly less afraid of Lex's wrath now that Clark was back.

Clark looked at the journalists and photographers as the group walked into the plane. "I couldn't do that. I couldn't follow this."

"I would be ashamed if you could, not ashamed of you, I would worry about where I had gone wrong as a parent if you were capable of trying to get quotes out of people in pain. There is no news here, it's all being broadcast. If you blew up a town and wouldn't give a reason I would hope people asked you to explain it. But this? This is just gawking; this is ambulance chasing."

"Greg Mortesse is out there."

"No!" said Lois and Jimmy in unison.

"Who's Greg Mortesse?" asked John Stewart at their disgust.

"Back when Clark and I covered all the town ordinance stuff, when the Chief wasn't sure if he liked us, Jimmy was our photographer. Greg worked for Metro Times and was always on the same stories. So before we sat through mind numbing hours of town regulation hearings we would all go out to breakfast. And we would talk about what was on the agenda, ways to make it more interesting so that the public would actually pay attention, whether or not any of us would ever cover something big. Clark would then try to convince us that while it was dry it was important; we would all make fun of him: we had a rapport. I send him birthday cards with all of our names on it."

"He's off my holiday card list," agreed Clark. They slipped into silence as the half of the alien screen that was showing Clark tied to a post now had a new voice. It must have been sped up, Lex thought, because it hadn't been three hours.

Lex had entered the picture. On his face it was evident that he and Clark weren't close yet. Lex was confused, sad, perhaps afraid, not truly angry, at least, not because it was Clark but because someone had thought it was funny. He was untying Clark and clearly getting more and more distressed, he wanted to know who had done this, wanted to take Clark to a doctor, and then Lana's necklace fell off and Clark was better and ran away because it was all too real, too embarrassing, and frightening. And then, suddenly the screen vanished.

"Thanks for the respite," muttered Lex.

Clark gave him a tired pain filled smile and released his seatbelt. "Can we talk in the back room?"

"Of course," said Lex unbuckling himself. He picked Clark up and placed him on his feet, there wasn't enough room to carry him but he supported his weight into the back. He shut the door behind them and helped Clark to sit on one of the small chairs. "I'm sorry," he said again, "not that I did it, I'm sorry you found out."

Clark gave another grimace of a smile, "I know. It's okay. That's not why we needed to come back here. I just needed a minute with you. Everything hurts, Lex." Lex reached out and gently framed Clark's face with his hands. Clark allowed the hands to support the weight of his head. "All that shit they said, all those secrets I kept from my family, what must they think?"

"They aren't mad," Lex interjected.

"No, but they must be hurt. I didn't trust them."

"Well, sometimes they didn't give you a reason to."

"Now I'm bringing them to the most alien part of me. I know it's creepy. Even you can't see it as normal."

"That's true; it's very foreign. And it's not even that. You're comfortable there. Our brains can't even understand it and it doesn't faze you at all. That's what unsettling about it." He held Clark's face so tenderly. "It is a part of you we don't have the opportunity to understand. But there's that computer that charades as Lara-El. That makes it more bearable. Because it thinks it knows you, but it knows fuck-all. And I know you, I might not have ever seen Krypton but I've seen the real Fortress of Solitude, slept in your barn, in that safe quiet place. So maybe if you point that out, talk about it before we get there, they won't be thrown."

"Yeah, maybe. You'll hold my hand?"

"I'll always hold your hand. I just wish I could kill those other universe bastards."

"What? They aren't from another universe. They're in a different dimension, the ninth I think, that's why they looked so frightening, like the sphere in _Flatlands_. Maybe, if we were from that dimension, they wouldn't look odd. You didn't realize that? It wasn't alien, it was distortion."

"Clark, remember that you're cleverer than I am."

"No, you're the second most intelligent man on Earth."

"You weren't in the running; they didn't think you were human. You are much cleverer than I am. Their scope was much too narrow… it's the ninth dimension?"

"I think so."

"We can stop them from ever entering our dimension again."

"Do you have a disruptor charge?"

"Yeah, John knocked one together. Is there a laptop on this jet?"

"Lex, Bruce Wayne funds us. Do you really think he goes anywhere without one?" Lex smiled and helped Clark back into the cockpit.

Once he had Clark back in a seat he said, "Could someone hand me a laptop?" Diana pointed to the dashboard and Martha opened a compartment and pulled one out. "Thank you." He pulled out a USB cord and linked it to the disruptor. Then he opened the source code for the disruptor and started to recalibrate it.

Looking over Lex's shoulder Clark said, "No, that should be a four."

"Really?"

"Logically, yes; realistically, I have no idea if this will work. But it's a four."

A screen popped into being and one of the creatures said, "Alexander Luthor, what are you doing?"

He didn't take his eyes off the computer but still sneered as he said, "If you're so clever you know already. I'm turning you off, and there's nothing you can do." Lex continued to type and then turned the computer to Clark. "What's that line of code mean?"

"It's a loop, on the broadcasts." Clark looked at it, read it carefully, scrolled down, and finally said, "They're going to reshow all this every four years for a day, I guess they're into leap years. And there is no way to turn it off, not without breaking the whole code."

"Damn," Lex turned it back and kept typing, "With this power source that's going to continue for thirty cycles, which is a hundred and twenty years. We can't turn that off, can we?"

"You can't," answered the creature.

Pissed Lex said, "I'm not talking to you. I'm cutting this now." He turned off the signal that the creatures were using. And the screen was gone again. "Step one," muttered Lex. "We can't turn off the loop, right?"

"No. But this is better than nothing, they can't come here. They can't take people," Clark said it softly, crouching in on himself.

Lex leaned forward and kissed him gently. "I won't let them." He leaned back over the computer, typing. "I need an ion conductor."

"We have one," said John. "Bruce, can you open the compartment above your head?" Bruce pulled the small metal wand out as Lex pulled the back off the disrupter charge.

He accepted the wand and touched it to the thin metal tip to the microchip John had used and the machine buzzed in Lex's hand, "Don't you dare." He typed one more line of code and hit save and run. The whole craft shook a lit and Lex said, "Sorry, feedback wave. We're now cut off from the ninth dimension. We can receive and transmit information between the two but there are no longer any possible physical gaps. On the upside, the Super Awesome Friends League of the United States of Justice now has a machine that will allow them to talk to the entire world should that need arise."

They settled back and Clark said, "Guys, before we get to the Fortress, I should warn you. It's really, very, incredibly, exceedingly alien. Apparently the angles are wrong." He frowned and realized that maybe he shouldn't have suggested that he didn't find them wrong. Lex held his hand while Ignatius rested his head on his knee. "Um… it's all weird crystal. Things will morph to fit needs… there's light from nowhere. What else? The computer is both opinionated and inhuman. It's artificial intelligence but it doesn't understand people. It has Lara-El's imprint and believes it a realistic version of her but it doesn't understand emotions. Mom, it might not like you that much even though I know Lara did because it thinks I'm its son. It is probably going to spray us all with disinfectant; it thinks this world's dirty."

"It won't spray me," said Lex menacingly.

"That's because the one time it tried to you threatened to put your fist through it motherboard."

"And I would have, if I could figure out where that might be. That was an expensive suit and it said I was a contaminant."

"Yeah, um… it might talk about the superiority of Krypton. Kind of like a disappointed immigrant talking about the old world. You're all totally safe. I just thought it best to give you the heads up. Up sides, up sides, up sides. Oh! You get freakishly good cell reception, better than most places. The chairs it makes are very comfy. Anything else?" he asked Lex.

"It's roomy? And the light while unexplainable and thus sort of creepy is very flattering."

"Only you would think about soft lighting. How did you sleep with a hundred and twenty-six women?" asked Clark shaking his head.

"By understanding the greatness of soft lighting," replied Lex with a smirk. And then they were touching down and John Stewart placed them in a green bubble and floated them inside.

They passed the statue that Clark never studied and then were in the main room.

A fog started to come down on them and Lex cleared with throat and the computer sucked it back up. "Better," he said.

"Ka-"

"Careful," warned Lex, "you've been watching the same shit we have. So be careful what you call him."

"-lark," it finished as though it had been the noise of a "c". "We need to begin. The longer the blessed rock of our planet remains in your bone the more it will meld with your marrow."

"Can Lex come in with me?" He asked, clinging to his husband's hand.

"I don't see that as being a problem. The rest of your… family… and the dog need to stay here, in the main room." Clark nodded and a door formed in the wall.

He gave his family a brave smile. They were all looking unnerved by their surroundings. He said, "It'll be okay." Martha hugged him and he kissed her forehead, "I'll be back soon, Mom."

"The reversal should take two hours. Clark will be unconscious and in no pain so he won't be fighting it. The clallachpeldassacrissalvacs drew it out for effect."

"Is that what they're called?" asked Lex.

"No, it's a Kryptonian insult it means the foolish coward who dies upon his own sword," said Clark, "Come on."

As they walked through the door way they were thoroughly soaked with the disinfectant. "God Damn!" shouted Lex.

"You reek of cigarettes and -Clark- reeks of illness; it's a sterile room." The door sealed behind them. "Clark, please sit on the table there." It had a cushioned top and the pressure of sitting on it didn't hurt. A panel opened in the wall, "Lex Luthor, place the mask over your nose and mouth. I don't want to inundate you're veins with drugs, Clark." A fine mist settled in the room. "Lie back, count down from thirty."

He started in English, as the drug started to muddle his mind he slipped into German, than what Lex recognized as Kryptonian, finally he drifted out. Instruments came from the ceiling and the computer asked, "Will you be alright?"

"You do what you have to; tell me when you need me to move to his other side."

The machine cut off his clothes, sliced him open, pulled back the skin, and started on his bones. A hot laser melted the Kryptonite and a suction tube moved in and sucked it away leaving bone marrow. A salve like, viscous substance replaced the stone. "It will act as a healing agent until he can bathe in the light of this planet." Then the laser sealed his bones and fused his flesh seamlessly. The machines worked their way across Clark's prone body. Finally the AI said, "I need you to move to his other side. Don't hold his hand too firmly, he is tender, and the pressure might cause him to bruise."

Lex did as he was instructed. He asked no questions as he did not want to distract the machine. He held Clark gently. It was nowhere near as bad as the first surgery. It was fast, efficient, and Clark wasn't screaming in pain. After what seemed like only minutes the computer said, "We'll move him into the master bedroom and I'll flood it with an approximation of Earth light." The table moved, through another appearing door, and into the main suite. The light did feel like the sun. The table lowered moved to the bed, and gently shrugged Clark onto it. The sheets moved over him and the computer said, "I shall tell the others that they can come in."

"Thank you."

"Lex Luthor, you have never thanked me for anything."

"You have never before done anything worthy of thanks." He sat down heavily on the bed and stroked Clark's hair.

A door appeared and Martha came in followed by everyone, including a man in full costume Lex had never seen. Ignatius jumped on to the bed and curled up between his two masters.

"Lex," said John, "This is Bloodwynd, he's going to fix your legs."

"Thank you, Bloodwynd, that's most kind of you."

"I like Clark; he is calm" he said in a voice that lacked intonation. "Stretch out your legs, please."

John gave Lex a rather fake bright smile, "Ready, man?" Lex nodded and the green legs were replaced with his real ones. His feet were dangling off, held on by skin and tissue.

"This will hurt," said Bloodwynd. Lex wasn't sure if it was a warning or a commiseration, there was no inflection.

"Go for it." Lex gritted his teeth and stopped touching Clark in case his hands clenched. Bloodwynd firmly held Lex's thigh, pushing things back into place and instantly fusing the bones. "Oh, oh, that's not pleasant."

"Diana screams when I do this, you may if you need to, it does not distract me."

"I'm good," Lex flinched, "she's a wuss." He said grimacing a smile in her direction.

Bloodwyne finished one leg and asked, "Do you want a moment?"

"No, no, I'm good. It would be wonderful if you kept going."

Bloodwyne narrowed his eyes and Bruce said, "No one likes a hero."

"Bruce, you run around in a cape, so shut your face. Bloodwyne, please keep going. Are your parents Welsh?"

"It's a pun. It's not a bastardization; it's code. I still have a secret identity." Lex nodded, breathing through his nose, if he opened his mouth he was going to scream. After several moments Bloodwyne said, "There: done."

"Thank you, thank you for coming here and doing this for me."

"Most people punch me when we're through."

"No, I'm not going to do that. Would you like something to drink or anything?"

"I would like you to sit back, not put any weight on those legs for two hours, and to say hello to Clark when he's awake. Now I'm going to leave." He walked out silently.

"I don't get it," said Lex shaking his head. "Is he joking?"

"No, no, that's the way he is." Bruce shrugged, "He's… um… well, he keeps very neutral in everything… He plays it close to the breast; we didn't even know he could heal like that until a few months ago. He um… he likes Clark, respects him… he just doesn't take a stance on much."

Clark started to come around. "'M wake."

"You sure? Because you don't need to be" said Lex.

"Oh good, you're legs are back," Clark rearranged himself so he was half draped over Lex's lap. There was a clear tone of drunken mirth in his voice. "Y'know that theory of Nirvana? Where you go out into the hottest dessert and climb into a painful, thorny bush, and you bake in the sun, freeze in the night, starve, and bleed, and weep, and then after a month you climb out and go home and the lack of pain is the first time you understand happiness? I am sooo there. Like, this isn't, like a lack of pain, this isn't feeling better, this is feeling perfect. Like, not having the kryptonite leeching into my blood via my bones feels like heaven. And I get that I've had years of not-having-kryptonite sensation but, like, it's never been something I really appreciated. Like, call up Brainiac and have him smash my face in again because that's gonna be like a birthday present after this, that's gonna be like awesome and stuff."

"Clark, you're stoned," Lex ran his fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, but when I come off of whatever the AI pumped me full of I'm still gonna be floating." He turned slightly and saw everyone around the bed and said, "Why are you standing?" Chairs morphed up from the floor. "I don't think I'm gonna be upright for a while yet. Y'know what I could kill? A pancake taco."

"I made all that stuff last night," said Lex, "I'll go get you one." He started to stand but couldn't really move his legs.

Lana stood, "I'll go get it. All the fixings?"

"Please," said Clark.

"How many do you want?"

"Three. Thanks, Lana." To Lex he asked, "How long were you cooking?"

"Twelve hours… until we ran out of coffee."

"What have you all been doing? How were all the meetings for the technology conference? Lois, you were covering right? Anything really cool?"

"Clark," she said slowly, "everything ground to a halt the minute they started broadcasting. There weren't any meetings. No one can concentrate right now. The whole world has been watching you."

"Well, other than this horror show what's up what's going on, how are all my nieces and nephews?"

"You only have one niece," Bruce said gently.

Clark sent a covert apologetic look to Lois. But, stoned as he was, the whole room saw and Jimmy said, "It's okay, CK, she told me last night."

"Oh thank goodness. I mean I'm stoned but that would have been the social gaff of the century." The few people in the room who didn't already know started congratulating and hugging Lois. And the conversation turned to the Ross boys, Cecily nearly getting expelled.

The AI broke into the conversation, "See, K-lark," it caught itself, "you love those children. I don't see why-"

"Bro," the word was drawn out, "do we need to have this conversation again?"

"There are eggs with replicas of your DNA, the Fortress could incubate them, you and Lex Luthor could have children."

"It's sick, some weird chimera, this freakishness should end with me. How long would that kid have to live? Does the kid have to watch everyone die? Does he have to hide growing up? Nah, yo. It's wrong."

Bruce tried to break the mood saying, "On drugs you sound like Flash."

"Clark, you can continue the Kryptonian line."

"Maybe I don't want to!" He pulled himself further into Lex, as though he could crawl inside the other man and be away from the words. He kept Ignatius on his lap as though the dog and Lex could protect him. "I got lucky; I got to Earth, my family, my life but I'm not sure I would be willing to inflict it upon some kid. The El's did what they had to and they got me to Mom and Dad and I'm glad, I'm not sad about my life. But it's weird. And it sucks to understand a building that creeps out all your friends. Being different isn't cool. And then Jor-El tries to make you take over the world and it's all shit. No, I'm not ready to do that."

"As you're mother, Kal-"

"You're not my mother and that's not my name. Now be quiet."

Martha came and sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around him. He was cocooned between her and Lex. Thinking better of her squeeze she asked, "Am I hurting you?"

"No, I feel good. The computer's just harshing my mellow. Like, we should have drug parties I don't know why I've never done drugs before. They're awesome."

"No more late night iced-mochas with Wally," John agreed with Bruce.

Lana came in handed off tacos and said, "You're computer's a bitch. You shouldn't make any decisions because something pressures you." Sometimes Clark hated it when Lana came out with trite advice she thought was profound but he appreciated the effort. He ate the tacos quietly, not making eye contact. He felt useless and ashamed. The conversation washed over him. All he concentrated on was the food and his mother's and Lex's arms around him.

Clark rested his face against Lex's collar and all the pressure, pain, and relief were suddenly pouring silently out of him. And he was crying, silent and motionless into his husband's neck. Martha noticed while the rest of the room was unaware and said in a soft voice, "He's asleep and I think we should let Lex get some rest, come on." Clark felt her squeeze his arm lightly before standing.

The AI said, "I'll show you a film, views of Krypton, it's what Clark watched on his way to Earth."

With a harsh edge Martha said, "That would be lovely, thank you."

Once they were gone Lex said, "Crashing sucks doesn't it? That was a bit fast. I thought the euphoria would last a little longer."

"I wish I was normal," said Clark softly. "I wish this didn't happen. I wish the press wasn't at our house. I wish I wasn't naked on screens all over the Earth. I wish Mom wasn't here. But this right now? It feels good." He started stroking his own face, fingers dragging over flesh slowly and repetitively.

"I see, not a crash, a plateau."

"I'm sorry I worry you. But I'm glad you love me and I don't care that you've slept with, like, a billion people 'cause you only love me. And I think I might quit being a superhero, there are lots now. I think I'll just do really big things, like huge things. And I'll bring the HIV meds. And I'm sorry I stopped you from curing cancer, I'm really sorry about that. And I love your mouth and its scar and its sneer."

Lex kissed him slowly, "My mouth is always yours. I wouldn't change what I did back then, it wouldn't even have been passed. Nothing would have come of it. And, as for super-business, you do whatever makes you happy."

"I want off of the active roster. I just want to do the little stuff, the easy things, I want to be free range again, I just want to do things when I want to and not the big stuff. It's not even the pain; it's people knowing about it. I feel like stupid and awkward now." He trailed off and started pulling at his finger nails. And was silent but clearly hadn't finished the thought. "Do you think people will be mad if I stop?"

"After the last few days, no one will object to it. Now they see you as a person not just a hero. They cannot be upset at you wanting some time for yourself." He cradled Clark close to himself. "You really think you'll stop?"

"I want to, and I want to spend more time at the farm, just being at home on the land, doing good stuff that pays off in the long run. Like farming… stuff. I want to spend my early morning and lunchtime at the farm, then come home and run on the beach with Ignatius, then go on, like, any international trips, and then come home and spend the night with you. Every once in a while I want to spend days at a time in the Fortress doing science projects. That's what I want to do. That would be good."

"That sounds fantastic, Clark. I like that idea. It makes my life a lot less worry filled."

"You're a real live worry doll." Clark rubbed his hands against Lex's skull like he really was imbuing Lex with his troubles. "I think I'm sobering up… my legs are a little sore now. Plus, I'm starting to feel uncomfortable about the fact that I'm naked and my whole family was in here. 'Cause that's uncomfortable," he stumbled over the last word.

"You were under the sheets." A knock came at the door and Lex said, "You want me to send them away?"

"No, but I wish I was less naked."

Lex looked down at his stained white t-shirt and pulled it off, "Here's it's loose on me so it might be a little tight but it'll fit." Clark pulled it over his head and Lex called, "Come in."

A door appeared with no one in it and then Pete stepped slowly into view, "The door didn't appear where I thought it would."

"Don't look at the walls for too long: there're four of them but they all meet at obtuse angles," Lex smiled. "What's up, Pete?"

"A lot actually. Cell phone reception up here really is amazing. I just had three odd conversations. First of all, the President called."

"President of what?" asked Clark.

"The President of the United States of America. He says he's taken matters in hand and you'll have citizenship before midnight. He said not to worry about any written tests or anything because of your college minor in US history. Then the Speaker of the House called, having heard from the President, and said that congress will be making it a law that you cannot be ever asked, forced, or coerced into ever participating in a war or cause on behalf of the country or asked to submit to medical testing. You may still of course ask for testing for your own benefit: Lex's IV bags won't get him in trouble. Finally the Secretary-General of the UN called, every country involved and many that aren't would like to give you honorary citizenship. It's two hundred and fifteen all together.

"Those counties also stated that you do not have to agree to their politics but instead are offering it to you because of work you've done for their people. For instance Sudan has offered citizenship and you've spoken about the political unrest there many times but have always helped their people. Also your citizenship to all these countries is not contingent upon anything. They said that you don't need to do anything, nothing is expected of you, this is in recognition of all the work you have done not future actions. Your US citizenship paper will be at your house by tomorrow afternoon and a list of the countries that want to offer you citizenship has been faxed to the house.

"Also, the media has been all over this. But not in the way you might think. Everyone who has been trying to cover this has been fired and blacklisted. All of the printed, radio transmitted, and televised media have been saying that it's disgusting, somewhat reminiscent of the night Princess Diana died, and shows a lack of morality. They said that you will give a statement when and if you want to and people should leave you alone after your ordeal.

"Finally, a lot of students disagreed with your statement that the story on Jerardie was the only important thing you ever wrote. They pointed out your editorial on being Superman and its consequence. They recognized that as an editorial it was in a different category. While acknowledging that, it may be true that the Jerardie piece could be argued to be your only significant piece of pure journalism, it's like saying that Harper Lee _only _wrote To Kill a Mocking Bird. So that's what's going on."

"I'm half naked," Clark observed after a few moments silence.

Pete shrugged, "Metaphorically, we all are, all the time. I wouldn't worry that you aren't wearing pants. I'd be much more ashamed if I was Lex: I can see his nipples whereas I can't see your crotch."

"Pete?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you get Chloe and Lois? I want to make my statement."

* * *

The End


	8. The Race

Title: Australia is for Lovers

Author: Azure K. Mello

Words: 3,316

Summery: Set ten years after "Illness" Lex is running for the White House.

Clark's Age : 48

Note: This is the Seventh in a series. If you haven't read the other parts you will miss some of the references.

Disclaimer: All things DC belong to various parties, individuals mentioned belong to themselves, other television shows and bands belong to various companies and people. No copy right infringement is intended, please don't sue.

* * *

Every four years the broadcasts came back and each time there were more scenes. The first time it came back it showed more of their childhoods, more of the growth of their friendship, more of Clark after the public found out about him being Superman and how sad he was about it. And each time there was Lex to cheer him up. It seemed the creatures from the other dimension still had a message for the world even if they couldn't actually explain that message.

The second time they had shown Clark destroying the ship and Jonathan saying that it was Clark's fault Martha lost the baby. They showed Clark in Metropolis when he ran away. They showed him robbing the banks, breaking the ATMs, drinking, dancing with girls. The bartender asked why he never went home with the girls and he just laughed. And then he went home and Lex was at his door. He nearly launched himself at Lex but Lex held him off, "Clark we need to talk. You need to come home."

"It's not my home."

"Your parents-"

"They aren't my parents. I was some alien they adopted who killed their unborn child."

"That's not true."

"You should have seen Dad's face when he said it, Lex. It was true. I'm not going back there."

"They're about to go into foreclosure, Clark, they're about to lose your family's farm because they're so wrapped in their grief for you that they just can't manage."

"It's not my family's farm. It's the Kent farm. I'm not one of them."

"Well what about me?" asked Lex. "You ran away. I haven't seen you in four months, Clark."

"You should stay," Clark pulled him into the apartment.

As Clark tried to kiss him Lex pushed him away. "You can't make your own decisions. That ring takes away your ability to be sensible and think about outcome so I'm not going to kiss you when you can't choose for yourself."

Clark looked pained. "I can't take it off." He started unbuttoning his shirt. "When I take it off I feel this." There on his chest was the brand of the house of El so like the superman symbol. "It burns; Jor El still wants me to complete my destiny to rule Earth. It turns out destroying the ship didn't do anything except kill my parent's baby."

Lex looked at the brand, reached out to stroke it gently and said. "He wants you to ignore consequence and do what's in your power because no one can stop you. The way you've been acting? Robbing those banks, buying cars with stolen money, introducing yourself as Kal? I think you're already following that destiny."

Clark sniffed, "Maybe, but at least this way I feel good." He leaned forward again but Lex still moved away. "Lex," he moaned.

"You need to take the ring off." Clark looked at his hand. "I will stay with you through the pain. But you need to take the ring off."

Clark sighed and removed it and Lex was instantly kissing him and pulling him close and as Clark fully gave into the kiss Lex pulled out a hammer and smashed the ring. Clark pulled away, startled. Looking at the ring he said, "Lex, how could you?"

"Clark, once you start coming back to yourself you are going to regret everything you've done in Metropolis and I wanted to make sure that this was the end."

Heat and light started ripping through the brand and Lex just held Clark close as the boy writhed in pain and when, after five minutes it had past Clark said in a little voice, "I was gonna be a big brother but I killed the baby and Dad could barely look at me."

"He was angry but it wasn't your fault. You wanted to destroy the ship; you had no way of knowing that they were coming home. You were trying to do the best thing for your family."

"I killed the baby," Clark started to cry. "I killed my sister or brother, my parents' real baby."

"You're real too, Clark. Your parents miss you; you need to come home."

"I robbed banks and stores, Lex. I took whatever I wanted."

"I've paid it all off, even your bar tabs." He kissed Clark slowly, "I miss you."

"You gonna get into trouble for covering for me?"

Rolling his eyes Lex joked, "It'll probably come up when I run for President."

That broadcast seemed more pointed with a couple of years retrospect. But it was quiet and warm when Lex was walking down the street in Metropolis. LLC had a meeting that had to be held in the city so Clark had dropped him off and run off the farm for the day. He didn't see the reporters until he got outside, "Mr. Luthor, is it true?"

"I am running for the Presidency," Lex nodded.

"As a publicly gay atheist who has not held public office and would run as an independent what do you think your chances are?"

"This is twenty-thirty-four and we've been in a resection for nearly thirty years. I think people may be ready for a gay atheist just because I can do the job. As for the lack of office time… I've played politics since I was fifteen, I may not have done it for a state but I'm not an amateur. I will turn our economy around within two years; we will be wholly debt free within four. We've been in a hole for too long. Moreover, our nation is now disliked and scorned by the global community. The government has made poor decisions and bullied other countries into situations. When I took over Luthor Corp. we were losing our monetary stability and no one liked us because my father was evil incarnate. We're now one of the top ten most lucrative companies on Earth and so stable we have over fifteen billion dollars a year going out in charitable work. If I could bring that company back from the brink I can certainly get this country back on track from a bad lull. I mean, the US is nowhere near as loathed as my father was. Now, if you'll excuse me, the race is not on yet but I do have a meeting to attend."

It was the same all over. The next day Clark left the house and was instantly set upon by the crowd. "I have to go to Central Java so can we keep this brief?"

"What are you doing in Indonesia?"

"The people in one town have an old water filter made back when it was Luthor Corp. It's high efficiency, but as it's over thirty years old so it's starting to break down a bit. I heard them about an hour ago talking about it so I've collected up all the parts I could get my hands on. I'm going now."

"Why you?" asked one reporter.

"Why not me? I've done this several times so it's not a big deal, it's not that complicated once you know how it works, but they don't have very much water left."

"How do you feel about Lex running for the White House?"

"Well, I've never spoken about my personal politics. But, um, Lex is a business man and a consummate diplomat. We share most of the same beliefs and I do believe he would be a fantastic President. So, y'know, there's that."

"He said he won't be stepping down as the head of LLC?"

"If you want something done give it to the busy man; he can always make time for it. Lex is much better when multitasking. If he has one project it'll take him two days. Give him thirty and it will take him three, he just focuses better as he has more and more responsibilities. We'd be getting a better President if he keeps the CEO and Presidency of LLC, he's more efficient that way. Um, I have to go, sorry."

He flew up in the air and gave them a brief smile and wave before speeding off. He touched down five minutes later in northern Indonesia and was making his hellos. Everyone was instantly asking why he was there. People did that now, after learning the fact that he felt pain, they asked if he was sure he should be there.

Laughing and joking in fluent Bahasa Indonesia he was almost instantly elbow deep inside the machine's workings. Within an hour Clark had the problem sorted and fixed. He left all the extra parts with the people of the town. Afterwards Clark stuck around. Someone brought out an ancient Polaroid and he took pictures with the people of the town. They handed him a glass of water which he drank with relish. And then, noting the lateness Clark excused himself so they could go to bed.

The next months were filled with searches for scandal. People tried to find anything underhanded. It was all almost comical. Watching the evening TV news the headline would be, "Has LLC Cheated on its Taxes?" and the story would be: no. "Has Lex Luthor Done Drugs?" Yes, and he openly admits it. "Have Lex Luthor or Clark Kent Ever had an Affair?" Nope. "Does LLC Pay Their Employees Fairly?" Yes. "Does LLC Hire Illegal Immigrants?" No, but they will help you become a citizen or get a visa or green card. It went on and on trying to find something dark in the man's past. Possibly the worst thing they said was, "Has Lex Luthor Ever Shot Anyone?" Yes, nine people, all in self defense. He also pointed out that he was a safe President in that he wouldn't die in office, the computer had lengthened his life, Superman was his husband, he always carried a gun, and his suits were lined with Kevlar. And that didn't really stop the public loving Lex.

Ever since the horror of Clark's kidnapping the general public loved the couple. It was as though Lex breaking down in front of the world made him appear more real. So many of their personal moments had been shown to the world and the world had re-embraced Lex. And no one really seemed to care that he was married to a man. Superman being gay made even Middle America less angry about 'the issue'.

When asked if Lex was concerned about his sexuality coming into play he said, "No, no. We've had a black President, a female President, a Jewish President. The country has moved past prejudice in its politics. I'm much more concerned about my lack of a party. George Washington was the only Independent President we've ever had and he was only Independent by default."

"Well, why don't you join the Republican or Democratic party?" asked the reporter.

"I'm neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I need to be honest in this run. I've shot people, done drugs, been sexually licentious, all while living in the public eye so I can't try to hide anything. Saying that I'm for either party would be a lie because I don't fully agree or disagree with either party, there needs to be more compromises and not just political appeasement but actual workable plans."

The news reporters from all different mediums got little snippets of quotes from Lex. There were photos of Lex and Clark walking around town with their sixteen year old dog. It got on the evening news when Ignatius needed hip surgery. People asked why they bothered with a dog that old. Lex had said that the AI had told him Ignatius would live to about twenty-one so it wasn't quite as foolish as one might think.

Reporters turned up at the farm and Clark sighed, "Guys, please, I've said this so many times: you need to stay away from the farm. This is Mom's house, my home, and a lot of people's livelihood. You can't hang around here. Mom needs her privacy: it's not her fault that Lex and I always end up in the spot light. I get that you want tons of pictures. I understand how important the coverage is but you need to do other things. You can follow me around a supermarket if you like but you can't be here. I know it seems churlish, but we need to get a lot done and, while you wouldn't mean to, you will get in the way. Do you want some lemonade? I'll bring some drinks out but after that you need to leave."

In a flash he was back with a large tray of drinks. He drank with them, talking about the race, the political ads he'd been watching, "Lex's head is so shiny on television. I don't understand it: he doesn't have a shiny head in real life. But I think being bald might work at this point. He's proving he has nothing to hide; he's laying it all out. He's not even hiding his scalp. Thankfully he has a good shaped skull. You see some people who shave their heads and you wonder why because they have such unfortunately shaped skulls. Before Lex and I started dating Mom said that she wanted to stroke his head. But she didn't because Lex doesn't really like being touched and she wasn't close enough to him. Now she does it all the time." He collected up the glasses. "Lex is at a meeting in Metropolis which runs until ten. There have been a lot of big meetings recently. He has some time; he's shopping for a new phone; I accidentally smashed his old one by resting my elbow on it with some force… We're meeting up for lunch; he's free until one. So you could go follow him. I need to go now."

He walked back into the house. There he ate toast covered in marmalade with field hands. "Di'you make thith?" he asked through a mouthful. Swallowing he continued, "It's much too good to be from a jar."

"Yeah, I canned it up about a week ago. You like it?" asked Martha.

"It's nice and sharp."

The hands told Clark where they would like him, jobs that were either too hard or too longwinded to be feasible. He fixed the irrigation system with over forty miles of piping in under an hour. Afterwards he ran all the necessary tests, cleaned out stalls, and reorganized the storm cellar.

He took a fast shower and kissed his mother's cheek saying, "Meeting Lex for lunch. Want to come?"

"No, I have bills to do but you have fun. Say hello to Lex for me." She turned and kissed his face. "Thank you for fixing the irrigation."

"Always, see you tomorrow, Mom." He ran out the door in a blur and heard her laugh miles away, still focused on the kitchen.

In the city he listened for a few moments to find Lex and then blurred to his husband. Lex was telling someone off, "This is disgusting. No, no, just no. What were you thinking?"

Clark stopped at Lex's Metropolis secretary's desk. She jumped a little, "Sorry," said Clark. "Can I go in?"

"He's in a meeting." Her smile didn't reach her eyes as Lex screamed at the unfortunate person in the office.

"No, he's in a fight," Clark gave her a winsome smile and went past her to knock on the door.

Completely calm Lex asked, "Yes?"

"We have a lunch with Lois and Jimmy," Clark called.

The door opened with a jerk. "Good, you're here. Get in here." Lex pulled him inside the room and slammed the door behind him. "Watch this video and tell this halfwit why he is in fact a halfwit." He gestured to Ernie James who was doing all of the PR for Lex's campaign.

The commercial showed Clark flying through the sky dressed as Superman. A fast cut showed Lex and Clark at some function laughing with each other. Then a voiceover said, "If Superman trusts him to do the right thing, shouldn't you?" and then "Lex Luthor for President" flashed up.

Clark blinked a few times and then said, "Ernie, this misses the mark. One, Superman doesn't have political leanings. Two, while Lex isn't lying about anything it's best not to highlight the fact that he's married to a man, there's a lot of America that's not that big on gay men in power. Three, this suggests Lex needs celebrity endorsements. Lex doesn't need a single endorsement to be the best man for the job. He certainly doesn't need a vote of confidence from his husband. That makes him look weak from the get go. It makes it look like he needs bolstering up."

"Thank you for your pithiness. I haven't been able to get to that level of clarity… I'll get my coat."

He left and Clark turned to Ernie, "He still gets edgy about me on TV. After the whole… vivisection being broadcast to the world… me on a screen gets him freaked. I think you should do a series of commercials about his task oriented, bullet pointed, plans for the country. I think you should run this as a super clean campaign never fling any mud at the other candidates, just be above it all. I know that Lex is the best candidate. Not as Superman and not as his husband, as a well read, intelligent, up to date citizen I know Lex could make this country great again. But I don't want to give him the "Super-bump" or whatever. He can do this all on his own feet."

Lex came back holding his coat and said, "Let's go. If we're late Lois will end up dragging us to pick up Jen and Jason off the bus."

The campaign went on and on. Clark sat back, watching it all. When Lex watched him without his knowledge he would see the small smile gracing Clark's face. An almost secret smile but it was only there when he thought no one was watching. He seemed quietly amused by it all. When Lex finally asked Clark said, "You'll win; this is all over kill. It seems odd to try so hard."

Kissing him softly Lex said, "Only to you. Not everyone loves me."

"Well, everybody loves me baby; what's the matter with you?"

Lex laughed, "I'm not quite so charismatic as you."

"Bull. You just need a little more confidence and a little less thought."

"I sweat confidence."

"No, real confidence, not the veneer. Just pretend you're in bed all the time that people aren't watching."

"Is that all?'

"That's all." He kissed him gently.

The biggest headline of the campaign was that it was a big headline. He was the most popular Independent candidate in history. When Lex picked Pete as his running mate it was in the news along with the Democratic and Republican choices for vice President. It went on and on. Until eventually it came down to nitpicking.

What will Lex Luthor do with terrorism? The response to that shocked the country, "There is no such thing as terrorism. It is a term people with power use for violent actions of a less powerful opposition. The violent actions come because those people feel unheard." So you'll be negotiating with terrorists? The question had made him smirk. "I will do whatever is best for America, its international relations, and what we can do to present ourselves to the world and humanity. Which means, yes, I will do what I can to come to an understanding with people who have a problem with our country. That is not to say I will give in to demands but I will instead work to forge new connections."

You've said you're upping taxes. "No, we aren't _lowering_ taxes. We have a huge national deficit. The plan is to stop tax cuts for the rich and stimulus checks for them. Do you know what I do with my stimulus check? I put it directly into my saving account. That's what rich people do. Give it to middle class, lower middle class, working class, people in poverty and they are going to go out and spent it. So rebates and stimulus checks are going to go way up. If you make over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year you aren't going to be seeing lower taxes or big rebates. But we're going to strengthen the dollar and get the country out of debt. And when that happens everyone will be richer."

The questions continued with Lex's strong opinions and, shockingly, people liked it. People paid attention, not just for the entertainment value. Lex wasn't going to be spending much time at the White House, he would be out and about, always contactable but not actually at the White House. He announced, "I think it's time for a Field President." He wasn't going to step down as the head of LLC, he was going to get cheap health care for the public, he was going to whip things into shape. He would not get paid for being President; he was the richest man in America. The public liked it. Sick of pandering and middle of the road ideas, they enjoyed Lex's honesty.

It didn't shock Clark at all when it was time to break the champagne out. He opened the bottle gingerly and poured the glasses. "Congratulations, Mr. President, Mr. Vice President. I knew you'd win." He toasted them. "Should I pour one for Lana?" Lana was asleep with her head in Pete's lap, the boys were asleep upstairs. They'd sat up all night watching the running count in the living room with the doors open to the ocean.

Pete smiled down at his wife, "No, let her sleep. We'll still have won in the morning." He looked at his watch, "She'll be awake in three hours." He yawned widely.

"Need help getting upstairs?" asked Clark.

"Nah, we're good," Pete scooped her up lightly.

"Ya win?" she asked still very much asleep.

Just as he was about to answer she snored. To his friends he said, "When did we get old?"

Clark and Lex still looked like they were in their early thirties, still had the energy too. But Clark said, "Man, we're almost fifty, it's four-thirty in the morning, it's been an anxious few weeks, and the boys were up at six chanting 'Election day, erection day'." He laughed, "Rhyming words with bodily functions is funny when you're in high school." Thinking he laughed again, "Actually erection is still a funny word."

Pete chuckled, "Yeah, well, goodnight."

"Pete?"

"Yes, Lex?"

"We're in the White House."

"Yeah," Pete grinned widely. "We really are."

Once he was up the stairs Clark turned to Lex, "You're the President."

"Are you as wired as I am?" replied Lex. "I have no idea how Pete went to bed."

"We'll he's actually in his mid forties, Lex. We're not. Wanna go for a swim?" Lex nodded and whistled to Ignatius.

They walked down the beach stripping and Lex said, "I'm the President."

"You are."

"You're the First Gentleman."

"I am."

"Ignatius is the First Pet."

"And Mom's the Queen Mother."

Lex laughed as he waded into the ocean. "We have to move to Washington, we need to be there. And do you know what that means?" Clark shook his head. "There's no way it's going to be warm enough to skinny dip in November."

"We're not going to have a private beach either."

"There's a swimming pool but there's tons of security cameras."

"Awkward," agreed Clark. "Do we have to go to Camp David for vacations?"

"Hell no," Lex shook his head. "It's in the mountains and you can't ski. Where's the sense in that? We want to go someplace cold we'll go to the Fortress."

Clark floated on his back looking up at the sky. The moon was bright. "It's nice out here tonight. It's quiet, too late for crickets I suppose."

"I'm the President. I can't get over that."

"I knew you would be. But it is really exciting… I think this is the first time media coverage has actually helped us… ever."

Lex laughed as they drifted into the sea.

* * *

The End… Completely.


End file.
